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UNITED STATES ARMY IN WORLD WAR II 


Reader’s Guide 


Compiled and edited 
by 

RichardD. Adamczyk 
Morris J. MacGregor 



CENTER OF MILITARY HISTORY 
UNITED ST A TESARMY 
WASHINGTON, D.C., 1992 








Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 47^16404 


Published volumes of the United States Army in World War II may be obtained 
through bookstores or by an order addressed to Superintendent of Documents, 
Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C. 20402, enclosing a check or money 
order for the price of the volumes. 



CMH Pub 11-9 


For sale by the U.S. Government Printing Office 
Superintendent of Documents, Mail Stop: SSOP. Washington, DC 20402-9328 


ISBN 0-16-037817-6 





Foreword 


The United States Army in World War II series describes the organization, plans, 
and operations of the War Department and the Army, in the zone of interior and in all 
of the Army’s five theaters of operations from 1939 to 1945. Since the Army 
authorized the project in 1946, seventy-eight volumes have been or are being 
published representing an organized treasury of knowledge on the world’s greatest 
conflict. Behind them lies one of the largest masses of records and recollections ever 
produced. These documents, including those of the enemy, have been explored by 
professional historians, with the cooperation of a host of participants and with all the 
facilities and assistance that the Office of the Chief of Military History and its 
successor, the Center of Military History, could provide to ensure that this endeavor 
was as comprehensive, accurate, and objective as possible. The final result has 
provided commanders and staff officers, historians, and students—military and 
civilian alike—with an unprecedented professional guide to past experience as they 
seek light on the uncertain path ahead. 

But the volumes are large and readers who need the knowledge contained in them 
are often pressed for time. Although each volume contains its own analytical index, 
a given subject may be discussed from various points of view in a number of volumes. 
The present pamphlet thus attempts to furnish the seeker of information with a finding 
aid which will enable him to profit more readily from the great investment of resources 
that the Army has devoted to extending his knowledge. This work supersedes 
Reader's Guide //, published in 1960. Criticisms and suggestions that look to the 
improvement of the present Guide will be welcomed. 


Washington, D.C. 
26 February 1992 


HAROLD W. NELSON 
Brigadier General, U.S. Army 
Chief of Military History 


















































« 


































Preface 


This pamphlet contains a brief analytical description of each volume in the United 
States Army in World War II series published to date or to be published in the near 
future. These sketches have, in most cases, been prepared by the author at the request 
of the Chief Historian in his capacity as General Editor of the series. Each synopsis 
is followed by a list of “key topics” found in the volume and in most cases their 
chapter location. In addition, a pamphlet index is included which refers to both the 
lists of key topics and the subject matter in the descriptive sketches. With its aid, the 
reader should be able to find information bearing on a specific topic that may be 
located in several volumes, which touch on different aspects of a problem or an event. 
However, neither the topic lists nor the pamphlet index are exhaustive, and should be 
supplemented by reference to the analytical index that is contained in each published 
volume. 

The admonition which concluded the preface of Reader’s Guide I bears repeating: 
“The descriptive sketches that appear in the following pages are not resumes or guts 
of the volumes. They do not provide pat answers but then neither does history. 
History is a vicarious story that cannot be experienced except through participation 
in the event or through reading. History’s value lies in qualifying the reader to see 
events and problems as conditioned by their context and their sequence in time, not 
in isolation. Only extensive reading can give this qualification, which is the beginning 
of wisdom. It is hoped this pamphlet may help to get at the heart of the matter in which 
the reader is chiefly interested at any particular time.” 


Washington, D.C. 
26 February 1992 


JEFFREY J. CLARKE 
Chief Historian 
Center of Military History 









Contents 


Sub series and volume Page 

THE WAR DEPARTMENT. 3 

Chief of Staff: Prewar Plans and Preparations. 3 

Washington Command Post: The Operations Division. 4 

Strategic Planning for Coalition Warfare: 1941-1942 . 6 

Strategic Planning for Coalition Warfare: 1943-1944 . 8 

Global Logistics and Strategy: 1940-1943 . 10 

Global Logistics and Strategy: 1943-1945 . 12 

The Army and Economic Mobilization. 14 

The Army and Industrial Manpower. 16 

THE ARMY GROUND FORCES. 21 

The Organization of Ground Combat Troops. 21 

The Procurement and Training of Ground Combat Troops. 23 

THE ARMY SERVICE FORCES. 29 

The Organization and Role of the Army Service Forces. 29 

THE WESTERN HEMISPHERE. 35 

The Framework of Hemisphere Defense. 35 

Guarding the United States and Its Outposts. 37 

THE WAR IN THE PACIFIC. 41 

Strategy and Command: The First Two Years. 43 

The Fall of the Philippines. 44 

Guadalcanal: The First Offensive. 46 

Victory in Papua. 48 

CARTWHEEL: The Reduction of Rabaul. 48 

Seizure of the Gilberts and Marshalls. 50 

Campaign in the Marianas. 51 

The Approach to the Philippines. 52 

Leyte: The Return to the Philippines. 54 

Triumph in the Philippines. 55 

Okinawa: The Last Battle. 56 

THE MEDITERRANEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS. 61 

Northwest Africa: Seizing the Initiative in the West. 61 

vii 

































Subseries and volume 


Page 


Sicily and the Surrender of Italy. 62 

Salerno to Cassino. 64 

Cassino to the Alps. 65 

THE EUROPEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS. 69 

The Supreme Command. 71 

Cross-Channel Attack. 73 

Breakout and Pursuit. 75 

The Lorraine Campaign. 77 

The Siegfried Line Campaign. 78 

The Ardennes: Battle of the Bulge. 79 

Riviera to the Rhine. 81 

The Last Offensive. 83 

Logistical Support of the Armies, Volume I: 

May 1941 -September 1944. 84 

Logistical Support of the Armies, Volume II: 

September 1944-May 1945. 85 

THE MIDDLE EAST THEATER. 89 

The Persian Corridor and Aid to Russia. 89 

THE CHINA-BURMA-INDIA THEATER. 93 

Stilwell’s Mission to China. 93 

StilwelFs Command Problems. 94 

Time Runs Out in CBI. 95 

THE TECHNICAL SERVICES. 99 

The Chemical Warfare Service: Organizing for War. 101 

The Chemical Warfare Service: From Laboratory to Field. 102 

The Chemical Warfare Service: Chemicals in Combat. 103 

The Corps of Engineers: Troops and Equipment.. 104 

The Corps of Engineers: Construction in the 

United States. 105 

The Corps of Engineers: The War Against Japan. 106 

The Corps of Engineers: The War Against Germany. 108 

The Medical Department: Hospitalization and Evacuation, 

Zone of Interior. 109 

The Medical Department: Medical Service in the 

Mediterranean and Minor Theaters. 110 

The Medical Department: Medical Service in the European 

Theater of Operations. Ill 

The Medical Department: Medical Service in the 

War Against Japan. 112 


Vlll 


































Subseries and volume 


Page 


The Ordnance Department: Planning Munitions for War. 113 

The Ordnance Department: Procurement and Supply. 114 

The Ordnance Department: On Beachhead and Battlefront. 116 

The Quartermaster Corps: Organization, Supply, 

and Services, Volume I. 117 

The Quartermaster Corps: Organization, Supply, 

and Services, Volume II. 117 

The Quartermaster Corps: Operations in the War 

Against Japan. 119 

The Quartermaster Corps: Operations in the War 

Against Germany. 120 

The Signal Corps: The Emergency (To December 1941). 121 

The Signal Corps: The Test (December 1941 to July 1943). 121 

The Signal Corps: The Outcome (Mid-1943 Through 1945). 121 

The Transportation Corps: Responsibilities, Organization, 

and Operations. 124 

The Transportation Corps: Movements, Training, 

and Supply. 125 

The Transportation Corps: Operations Overseas. 127 

SPECIAL STUDIES. 131 

Chronology: 1941-1945 . 131 

Buying Aircraft: Materiel Procurement for the 

Army Air Forces. 132 

Civil Affairs: Soldiers Become Governors. 134 

The Employment of Negro Troops. 135 

Military Relations Between the United States and Canada: 

1939-1945 . 136 

Rearming the French. 137 

Three Battles: Amaville, Altuzzo, and Schmidt. 139 

The Women’s Army Corps. 140 

Manhattan: The Army and the Atomic Bomb. 141 

PICTORIAL RECORD. 147 

The War Against Germany and Italy: Mediterranean and 

Adjacent Areas. 147 

The War Against Germany: Europe and Adjacent Areas. 147 

The War Against Japan. 147 

WORLD WAR II SOURCES. 149 

INDEX. 153 


IX 

































The War Department 







The War Department 


The eight volumes comprising The War Department subseries describe the 
achievements of the United States in becoming the Allied “arsenal of democracy” 
during the Second World War. These volumes also examine how the process of 
establishing and attaining truly astronomical war production objectives forever 
changed the structure of the United States economy. Highlighted are the myriad of 
problems associated with the allocation of limited resources and the organization and 
the processes involved in the execution of global war strategy. The volumes reveal 
the war as a transitional period for the nation, an era when the suspicions and fears of 
entangling alliances were replaced by an era of international cooperation and 
integration. This subseries thus traces the story of the hopes and fears, the triumphs 
and struggles of the Army confronting a world at war, and the monumental changes 
it undertook to meet that challenge. 


CHIEF OF STAFF: PREWAR PLANS AND PREPARATIONS. By Mark 
Skinner Watson. (1950, 1985, 1991; 551 pages, 5 tables, 4 charts, 11 illustrations, 
bibliographical note, glossary, index, CMH Pub 1-1.) 

From September 193 8 to 7 December 1941 it became increasingly probable that the 
United States would have to fight in World War II. The central theme of this volume is 
the decisions and recommendations made by General Marshall as Chief of Staff with a 
view to preparing the Army for that event. The author explores and presents the 
successive situations and problems that confronted the Chief of Staff in making these 
decisions and recommendations, in order to enable the reader to see why and how historic 
judgments were reached and then to show how and through whom they were translated 
into action. Since General Marshall and the officers under him were involved in almost 
every problem confronting the nation in the decisive years covered, this book is a slice 
of national history. 

Ini938-39 the Army was ill prepared even to defend the nation against attack; the 
public and Congress were determined to avoid war and ignorant of military require¬ 
ments. The foreign policy of the United States was in debate, and the policies that the 
President followed in this period of doubt soon raised a conflict between the request for 
aid and the demands of national rearmament. Amid this confusion the services had to 
prepare for the worst. The present volume is an account of the methodical and often 
inspired planning and preparations, repeatedly interrupted and readjusted, but pursued 


4 


READER'S GUIDE 


until order emerged from confusion, so that, despite the shock of Pearl Harbor, the 
nation could within a year pass to the offensive in a two-front war. 

Within the scope of the Army’s own planning and preparations the book includes 
subjects that, for the period after Pearl Harbor, will be treated in many separate 
volumes of the United States Army in World War II—strategy, logistics, the 
mobilization and organization of men and industrial resources, recruiting and training 
of troops and officers, the role of air power, and the defense of the Western 
Hemisphere. The author considers these and other topics in their complex interrela¬ 
tionships during the instructive early period of uncertainty, overstrain, improvisation, 
trial and error, and radical readjustments. It is a necessary preface to the accounts of 
the war itself. 

Key topics: 

1. Military unpreparedness and its costs (Ch. II). 

2. Rearmament under emergency conditions (Chs. V-VII, X, XI). 

3. Recruitment and mobilization of the Army (Chs. VI, VII). 

4. Program and problems of training (Ch. VII). 

5. The aid-to-Allies policy versus the demands of rearmament (Ch. X). 

6. The concept of a “balanced force” versus the President’s policies and the rise 
of air power (Chs. IV, V, VI, IX). 

7. Interrelations of foreign and military policy (Chs. IV, X, XII, XIII). 

8. The role of the War Department General Staff in prewar strategic planning 
(Chs. I, IV, XII, XIII; see Index: “War Plans Division”). 

9. Early difficulties in coordinating military plans and industrial production (Chs. 
IV-VI,XI). 

10. Progress toward a comprehensive supply plan: the Victory Program (Chs. X, 
XI). 

11. Movement toward air autonomy within the Army (Chs. II, IV, IX; see also 
Index: “Army Air Forces”). 

12. The Chief of Staff and Congress (Chs. I, VI, VII; see Index: “Congress”). 

13. Coordination of U.S. and British plans and policies (Chs. IV, X, XII). 

14. Prewar organization for the control of the Army, through the Chief of Staff, and 
its coordination, particularly with the Navy (Chs. I, III). 

15. Evolution of the General Staff, 1921^-1 (Ch. III). 

16. The origins and adoption of lend-lease (Ch. X). 

17. Preparations to defend the Western Hemisphere (Ch. XIV). 

18. The decision to reinforce the Philippines (Ch. XIII). 

19. The War Department’s share in the responsibility for the surprise at Pearl Harbor 
(Ch. XV). 

20. General Marshall and the principle of unity of (inter-Allied) command (Ch. XII). 

21. Selection and promotion of officers (see Index: “Officers”). 


WASHINGTON COMMAND POST: THE OPERATIONS DIVISION. By Ray 

S. Cline. (1951, 1985, 1990; 413 pages, 4 charts, 4 illustrations, 2 appendixes, 
bibliographical note, glossaries, index, CMH Pub 1-2.) 


THE WAR DEPARTMENT 


5 


This is the history of the agency through which General George C. Marshall 
exercised his paramount authority over the Army’s activities, at home and overseas, 
from 9 March 1942 to the end of the war. From the Operations Division (OPD) he staffed 
his relations with the Navy and with other authorities, national and international. The 
Operations Division was also the source within the War Department on which General 
Marshall, both as the Army Chief of Staff and as a member of the Joint and Combined 
Chiefs of Staff, relied for advice and assistance in matters of strategy. 

OPD, originally called War Plans Division (WPD), was a division of the General 
Staff, added to the “Gs” in 1921. The reorganization of the War Department in 
March 1942 pushed other divisions—G-l, G-3, and G~A —back into a position, then 
orthodox, that has been described as “thinking about military activities without 
participating in them." Moving at the same time in the opposite direction, that 
reorganization converted WPD into a central command post, with the operative 
functions of a field headquarters. OPD, a whole staff in itself, coordinated the other 
General Staff divisions, the three continental commands (Army Ground Forces, 
Army Air Forces, and Army Service Forces), and the Army commands overseas, 
including the great theaters of operations. OPD prepared General Marshall’s orders 
to overseas commands and represented their views and needs to him. It became in 
effect his global command post. Through OPD he projected the strategic and 
operational views of the Army and its requirements in manpower and materiel across 
the whole field of wartime activities. 

OPD was, in short, the organizational solution applied to the knottiest problem 
of high command, reconciling the requirements of administrative and operational 
decentralization with the necessity for effective supervision and unified control of 
worldwide operations. The present volume is an “institutional biography’’ of this 
agency, on which General Marshall relied heavily to give effect to his authority as 
supreme Army commander. Its origins, problems, conflicts, organization, person¬ 
nel, development, and effectiveness and the methods and influence of its successive 
chiefs (Maj. Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower, Lt. Gen. Thomas T. Handy, and Lt. Gen. 
John E. Hull) and their principal assistants can here be studied in detail. 

The light this study throws on the relations of staff assistance and command 
gives it a special value for officers preparing for General Staff duty. The precedents 
it presents and the analogies it suggests make it invaluable as an aid in the recurrent 
search for effective organization at the center of national military authority. 

Key topics: 

1. Evolution of the mechanism of strategic planning (Army) before and during the 
war, with emphasis on staff systems and procedures (Chs. II, IX, X, XII, XVII). (For the 
substantive history of strategy in World War U, see the volumes on Strategic Planning 
for Coalition Warfare.) 

2. The Army’s concepts and influence in the development of American and Allied 
strategy (Chs. IX, XII, XVII). 

3. The linkage of strategic planning with the effective direction of operations (Chs. 
XI, XV). 

4. The coordination of the zone of interior and active theaters in a war fought 
overseas (Chs. IX, X, XIV). 



6 


READER'S GUIDE 


5. The mechanics and operation of the joint staff committees before and during 
World War II (Chs. II, XIII-XIV). 

6. Coordination of military planning and foreign policy in war (Chs. VI, XVI). 

7. The role and functioning of the General Staff, War Department (Chs. I, II, VI). 

8. Structure and functioning of the War Department, 1921-42 (Chs. I-VII). 

9. Failure of staff work as a factor in the surprise at Pearl Harbor (Ch. V). 

10. GHQ and WPD, 194CM2 (Chs. II, IV). (For a supplementary account, see 
“Origins of the Army Ground Forces: General Headquarters, United States Army, 
194CM-2,” in The Organization of Ground Combat Troops, pp. 1-156.) 

11. Wartime conferences of the Allies, with emphasis on staff preparations and 
procedures in debate: Arcadia (Ch. V); Casablanca, Trident, Quadrant, and 
Sextant (Ch. XII). 

12. Bolero planning (Ch. IX). 

13. Planning for Sledgehammer, Roundup, Husky, Overlord, and Anvil 
(see Index). 

14. Planning for Torch (Ch. X). 

15. Planning for the final defeat of Japan, including the decision to use the atom 
bomb (Ch. XVII). 

16. Comparison of OPD with organization of the Army General Staff under the 
National Security Act of 1947 (Ch. XVIII). 

STRATEGIC PLANNING FOR COALITION WARFARE: 1941-1942. By 

Maurice Matloff and Edw in M. Snell. (1953, 1986, 1990; 454 pages, 3 charts, 12 
illustrations, 7 appendixes, bibliographical note, glossaries, index, CMH Pub 1-3.) 


Strategy means strategic concepts, plans for executing these concepts, and an 
application of national power designed to bring the enemy to terms. In World War 
II the production of strategic plans became a major industry in the military 
establishment. The main theme of this book is the history of that industry, as far as 
the War Department was concerned, to the end of 1942. 

The basic strategic concepts of the Allies were embodied in the decisions reached 
in 1941 to treat Germany as the number one enemy and to wage unlimited war. This 
book is focused on the process by which these concepts were translated into strategic 
plans. It tells how national strategic plans were made, unmade, and remade. More 
particularly the authors are concerned with the Army’s concepts of strategy and its 
efforts to get them accepted. Their book is therefore indispensable to military 
planners. But the treatment is so broadly conceived and so thorough that the book 
brings a wealth of information to bear on the whole picture of Allied strategy. It lights 
up, on the one hand, the evolution of strategic concepts. It includes the discussions 
of the Allies in the great conferences where the fate of the Army’s plans and proposals 
was finally decided. 

The volume follows, on the other hand, the search for forces, supplies, and ships 
with which to achieve the strategic objectives decided on as necessary and feasible. 
Using all the available information on its theme in American records, it is an 
organized account of what it meant (and may mean again), in terms of American 


THE WAR DEPARTMENT 


7 


thought and military potentials and the requirements of combined action, to prepare 
for, plan, and mount a global coalition war. 

For the student of strategy this volume has a special value because it deals with 
a period of beginnings. It was a time of political indecision, extreme military anxiety, 
grave disappointments, meager resources, and “cut and try” in an incessant effort to 
keep strategic plans realistic. Army planners had to resolve continued differences 
between their views and those of the Navy, and American planners had to learn how 
to deal with the British, who in this period were urging plans which, although framed 
within agreements “in principle,” were diametrically opposed to those of the 
Americans. Throughout the period American planners, groping for procedures that 
would be effective in dealing with these and their other problems, were acting without 
adequate precedents in American experience and without an organized record of such 
precedents as existed. The lessons they learned, as these developed from the 
circumstances of the time, are here set forth for the benefit of their successors. 

Key topics: 

1. The interplay of military, political, economic, and sentimental factors in 
determining what to do and when to do it (Chs. I, II, IV, VIII, XII, XVII). 

2. Interaction of deployment and strategic concepts (Chs. VI, VII, XIV, 
XVI). 

3. Coordination of strategic planning and immediate military demands (Chs. Ill, 
IX, X, XV, XVI). 

4. The role of logistical feasibility (Ch. XVI; this subject is extensively treated in 
Global Logistics and Strategy: 1940-1943). 

5. Planning against scarce resources (Chs. V, VII, IX, XVI). 

6. Correlation of strategy with industrial potentials (Chs. Ill, XVI). 

7. Problems of planning for a two-front global war (Chs. I, III, V, VII). 

8. Encirclement and peripheral attrition versus concentration on a knockout blow 
(Chs. II, V, VII, VIII, XVII). 

9. Differences between the strategic outlook of the Army and the Navy and their 
coordination (Chs. VII, X, XII, XIII). 

10. Integration of air concepts and plans with those of the Army and Navy (Chs. 
II, VI, VII, XV, XVII). 

11 . Prewar evolution of the Orange and Rainbow plans (Chs. I-IV). 

12. Anglo-American staff conversations (ABC-1; Arcadia) (Chs. Ill, V). 

13. The Victory Program (Chs. Ill, VIII; more fully treated in Chief of Staff: 
Prewar Plans and Preparations, Global Logistics and Strategy: 1940-1943, and The 
Army and Economic Mobilization). 

14. Evolution of the BOLERO concept and plan as an Army contribution to 
American strategy (Chs. VII-VIII; see also: Washington Command Post: The 
Operations Division,Global Logistics and Strategy: 1940-1943, and Cross-Channel 
Attack). 

15. The effect of limited warfare in the Pacific on deployment for unlimited war 
(Chs. VII, IX-XII, XVI). 

16. The presidential decision to invade North Africa (Torch) and its effect on 
American deployment and strategic plans (Chs. XII-XIV). 




8 


READER'S GUIDE 


17. The introduction of the President’s unconditional surrender formula (Ch. 
XVII). 

18. Anglo-American plans and Soviet expectations (Chs. VI, IX, X, XII, XV). 

19. The strategic outlook of the United States on the eve of the Casablanca 
Conference, January 1943 (Ch. XVII). 


STRATEGIC PLANNING FOR COALITION WARFARE: 1943-1944. By 

Maurice Matloff. (1959, 1970; 640 pages, 5 tables, 1 map, 26 illustrations, 5 
appendixes, bibliographical note and guide to footnotes, glossaries, index, CMH Pub 

1-4.) 

In this volume Dr. Matloff, coauthor of the preceding volume, carries the subject 
forward from the conference at Casablanca (January 1943) through the second 
Allied conference at Quebec (September 1944), applying essentially the same 
methods and approach as in the earlier volume. 

During these years General Marshall and his strategic planners had to grapple 
with the problems of the offensive phase of coalition warfare. The book is a carefully 
studied and thoroughly documented exposition of the American case for concentra¬ 
tion, first against Germany, then against Japan. 

While the author looks at the war through the eyes of the Washington high 
command, he looks at the whole war, in order to explain American thought and the 
measures that the American war leaders took. The reader will therefore find here a 
study of the positions of Great Britain, the USSR (Union of Soviet Socialist 
Republics), and China and of their leaders, Churchill, Stalin, and Chiang Kai-shek, 
as well as of Roosevelt and the American military chiefs, as they sought to resolve 
strategic and political problems. 

Their proposals were tested in the debates at the great conferences of the 
coalition, and this volume contains a full account of five of the most important of 
these: Casablanca, Trident (at Washington, May 1943), Quebec (August 1943), 
Cairo-Tehran (November-December 1943), and second Quebec. The period cov¬ 
ered witnessed the triumph of the proposal for which the Americans most vigorously 
contended—a massive drive at the heart of Germany at the earliest possible date, 
finally set for early June 1944. In his exposition, the author gives ample space to the 
development of a strategy for the defeat of Japan, which was primarily an American 
responsibility. In accounting for the final adoption of the grand design of Allied 
strategy, he describes the increasing proficiency of the Americans in the art of 
military negotiation and diplomacy and the effect on strategy of the growing military 
weight of the United States and the USSR in the coalition. 

As in the first volume, American planning is related at every step to its basis in 
American resources of industrial capacity and manpower, in the war aims of the 
government, and in public support of the war. The crisis of adjustment to recognition 
in the fall of 1942 of the approaching limitations of manpower available for 
conversion into fighting forces; the increasing investment in air power; and General 
Marshall’s decision to limit American ground combat strength to ninety divisions 


THE WAR DEPARTMENT 


9 


are described in their relation to strategy. In these critical decisions on military 
policy, as well as in his role in decisions on strategy under debate with America’s 
allies. General Marshall emerges as the principal American architect of military 
victory. 

Key topics: 

1. The interplay of military, economic, and political factors in strategic decisions 
(Introduction. Chs. I, VI, VII, X, XI, XVI, XXI). 

2. Interaction of strategic concepts and the requirements of logistics and deploy¬ 
ment (Chs. II, XI, XIV, XVI, XVII, XVIII, XX, XXIII). (For this and the following 
topic, see also both Global Logistics and Strategy volumes.) 

3. The influence of problems of production and manpower on strategy (Introduc¬ 
tion, Chs. V, VIII, XI, XVII, XVIII, XXIII). 

4. Concentration on a knockout blow versus a strategy of encirclement and 
peripheral attrition (Introduction, Chs. I, II, III, VI, VIII, X, XI, XVI, XVIII, XX). 

5. Divergences in strategic outlook of the Army and Navy and their coordination 
(Chs. II, IV, IX, XIV, XX, Epilogue). 

6. Integration of air concepts and plans with those of the ground forces and Navy 
(Chs. I-IV, VI, IX, XIV). 

7. Techniques of military diplomacy and negotiation (Chs. I, V, VI, X, XIII, XV, 
XVI, XXIII). 

8. Relations between military planning and war aims (Introduction, Chs. I, XV, 
XVI, XVIII, XXII, XXIII, Epilogue). 

9. President Roosevelt as Commander in Chief and war leader (Introduction, Chs. 
I, V, VI, X, XV, XVI, XXI, XXIII, Epilogue). 

10. The major international conferences of midwar (Chs. I, VI, X, XIII, XVI, 
XXIII). 

11. Problems of limited versus unlimited war (Introduction, Chs. XIV. XVII, XX, 
XXHI, Epilogue). 

12. The effect on coalition strategy of changes in the balance of military power 
within the coalition (Chs. XVI, XXII, XXIII, Epilogue). 

13. The unconditional surrender formula as a war aim (Chs. I, XVI, XVIII, XXIII, 
Epilogue). 

14. The Overlord decision in its global framework (Chs. VHI, X-XIII, XV-XVI). 

15. The decision to limit the U.S. ground army to ninety divisions (Chs. V, VIII, XVHI). 

16. The Combined Bomber Offensive, the B-29, and the role of air power (Chs. I. 
Ill, IV, VI, IX, X, XIV, XIX, XXI, Epilogue). 

17. Anglo-American plans and Soviet expectations (Introduction, Chs. I, XIII, XVI, 
XXII, Epilogue). 

18. The China problem in politico-military strategy (Introduction, Chs. IV, VI, IX. 
X, XIV, XVI, XIX, XXI, Epilogue). 

19. Paralleling Pacific with Mediterranean advances (Chs. IV, IX, XIV, XVI). 

20. The decision for the southern France operation (Chs. XVI, XVIII, XXI). 

21. The problem of neutrals: Spain and Turkey (Chs. I, II, XI, XVIII, XXII). 

22. Expansion and distribution of American military power (Chs. XVII, XXIII, 
Apps. A, D, E). 




10 


READER'S GUIDE 


GLOBAL LOGISTICS AND STRATEGY: 1940-1943. By RichardM. Leighton 
and Robert W. Coakley. (1955, 1984; 780 pages, 25 tables, 19 charts, 9 maps, 59 
illustrations, 9 appendixes, bibliographical note, glossaries, index, CMH Pub 1-5.) 

This volume covers U.S. Army logistics, primarily of ground forces, in its relation 
to global strategy during the period of American preparation for World War II and the 
first eighteen months of participation. It forms the capstone for the structure of 
histories dealing with logistical activities, of which such theater histories as Logistical 
Support of the Armies and The Persian Corridor and Aid to Russia, the War 
Department volumes on materiel procurement and industrial relations, and the 
technical service volumes provide the base. It is a companion piece to Strategic 
Planning for Coalition Warfare: 1941-1942 and Washington Command Post: The 
Operations Division, since it treats logistics on the same general plane as that on 
which these volumes treat strategy. 

The point of view is that of the central administration in Washington—Joint and 
Combined Chiefs of Staff, the War Department General Staff, and the Services of 
Supply. The dramatis personae are the officials of these agencies and of their civilian 
counterparts such as the War Shipping Administration and War Production Board; 
theater commanders; the U.S. President and British Prime Minister and their advisers; 
and other officials of the Allied governments. The major areas with which the volume 
deals are those that most concerned the high command—global aspects of transporta¬ 
tion, division of resources among theaters, allocation of materiel to Allied nations, 
coordination of logistical support of joint Army-Navy operations, development of 
effective planning techniques for anticipating requirements in both men and materiel, 
organizational and administrative difficulties in mobilizing and expanding the 
nation’s military power, the delicate relationships between strategy and logistics, and 
the frictions of interagency and inter-Allied coordination in these fields. The most 
persistent theme is the chronic, pervasive competition for resources—between the¬ 
aters, between services, and between nations engaged in a coalition war. 

The story of logistical plans and operations is developed concurrently with that 
of the evolution of the central administration that carried them on. This evolution of 
administration involved the wartime reshaping of Army organization, the creation of 
new joint and combined agencies, and the definition of relationships between civilian 
and military authority in such fields as shipping and war production. 

The emphasis is on materiel rather than personnel, though troop shipping and 
service troops are treated in some detail, and the general problem of military 
manpower is outlined. Requirements for munitions and their allocation and distribu¬ 
tion provide the central thread; industrial mobilization and war production are 
discussed only insofar as they affected these processes. In the prewar period the focus 
is on materiel shortages and competing needs of the expanding U.S. Army and those 
nations to whom American aid was pledged under the Lend-Lease Act. This theme 
continues into the post-Pearl Harbor period, but the emphasis shifts to the shortage of 
shipping—the primary factor in shaping all strategic and logistical plans during 1942 
and early 1943. The volume describes how the American effort at first centered on 
strengthening positions in the Pacific, then shifted to preparations for early invasions 


THE WAR DEPARTMENT 


11 


of Europe, then to invasion of North Africa. Subsidiary efforts were devoted to 
supporting the British in the Middle East, developing supply routes to the USSR, and 
securing the Allied base in India for support to China. The result was a dispersion of 
resources that American strategic planners vainly resisted. 

Specific logistical problems in each area growing out of this dispersion are treated 
in the “operational” chapters (VI, VII, XIV-XXI); concurrent development of 
policies, procedures, and organization for the long pull in Chapters VIII—XIII. A final 
section (XXII-XXVI) brings all of these developments into focus in the period of the 
Casablanca Conference (January 1943) and after. Considerable emphasis is devoted 
to the complexities of administering military lend-lease aid—the establishment of an 
Anglo-American common pool of supplies, the machinery for allocating materiel 
from it in accordance with strategic need, and the peculiar problems arising in the 
delivery of supplies to the USSR, China, the Middle East, and French North Africa 
(III, IV, X, XI, X VIII-XXI). A concluding chapter surveys the problems of logistical 
planning and salient features of the Army’s logistical effort through spring 1943. 

Key topics: 

1. Historical development of the logistical function, evolution of the term 
logistics, and current conceptions of its meaning (Introductory). 

2. Expansion and rearmament of the U.S. Army in 1940-41 and Army plans for 
global war(Chs. I-V). 

3. Organization for logistics—U.S. Army, joint, and combined (Chs. IX, X, XIII, 
XXIV). 

4. Relation of military requirements programs to strategy and to production 
capabilities (Chs. V, VIII, XI, XXII, XXIII, XXVII). 

5. The system of pooling and allocating munitions among allies in a coalition war 
(Chs. X-XI, XVIII, XXI). 

6. Emergence of the landing craft problem in 1942 and early 1943 (Chs. XIV- 
XVII, XXV). 

7. Delivery of lend-lease military supplies to the USSR under the First and Second 
Soviet Protocols (Chs. IV, XX-XXI). 

8. Specific logistical problems of operations in the British Isles, Australia, the 
Pacific islands, India, China, North Africa, and Iran in the perspective of global supply 
and shipping requirements (Chs. XIV-XXI). 

9. Case studies in logistical plans and preparations—expeditions to the South 
Pacific and North Africa (Torch) in 1942 (Chs. VII, XVI-XVII). 

10. Impact of British import needs on the Allied military effort (Chs. XXV- 
XXVI). 

11. Army supply procedures and policies, especially for overseas supply; the 
Army system for calculating requirements and distributing scarce items (Chs. XII, 
XIII, XXIII). 

12. Army machinery for administering military lend-lease (Chs. Ill, X). 

13. Service troop requirements (Chs. XIII-XXI). 

14. Procedures and organization for joint Army-Navy logistical planning and 
operations (Chs. VII, XV, XXIV). 




12 


READER'S GUIDE 


GLOBAL LOGISTICS AND STRATEGY: 1943-1945. By Robert W. Coakley 
and Richard M. Leighton. (1968. 1989; 889 pages, 34 tables, 5 charts, 8 maps, 49 
illustrations, 8 appendixes, bibliographical note, glossaries, index, CMH Pub 1-6.) 

Like its predecessor. Global Logistics and Strategy: 1940-1943, this volume 
treats U.S. Army logistics from the point of view of the high command and staffs in 
Washington; it continues the preceding volume’s narrative from the spring of 1943, 
on the eve of the TRIDENT Conference in May, to the surrender of Japan. Space 
limitations have precluded coverage of the logistical issues involved in repatriation, 
occupation, and disposal of surplus property in the immediate aftermath of the war. 
Together the two volumes form the capstone of the logistical histories, of which the 
War Department volumes on economic mobilization, industrial relations, and aircraft 
procurement; such theater histories as Logistical Support of the Armies (European 
theater) and The Persian Corridor and Aid to Russia ; and the technical service 
volumes provide the base. Viewing logistics and strategy as parallel and interacting 
activities, this volume treats logistics on the same plane as the War Department 
volumes on strategic planning and operational direction treat strategy—for example, 
from the point of view of the central administration in Washington. The immense cast 
of characters, not limited to faceless agencies such as the Joint and Combined Chiefs 
of Staff, the War Shipping Administration, the War Department General Staff, and 
OPD (Operations Division of the General Staff), includes such legendary figures as 
President Roosevelt; British Prime Minister Churchill; “Gissimo” Chiang Kai-shek; 
Generals Marshall, MacArthur, and Stilwell; Admiral King; and, of course, the Army 
Service Forces’ Commanding General, Lt. Gen. Brehon B. Somervell, and his chief 
subordinate, Maj. Gen. Leroy Lutes. 

The book focuses on the myriad problems involved during the last two years of 
World War II in the division of resources among nations and theaters in a global 
conflict and on the logistical organization and processes involved in the formation and 
execution of strategy. This broad approach results in the same omissions that 
characterized the 194(M-3 volume: the book does not cover detailed logistical 
operations at lower levels; it does not treat internal logistics in overseas theaters except 
as necessary to establish the context for decisions at the center; and it is primarily 
concerned with ground force logistics, viewed in its interactions with airfespecially 
strategic air) and naval logistics. The omitted subject areas have been adequately 
covered in other volumes of the U.S. Army in World War II and in various 
publications sponsored by the Offices of Air Force History and of Naval History— 
upon which the present authors have drawn heavily in preparing this volume. 

Unlike the 1940-43 volume, this work employs a topical approach to the extent of 
treating supply organization and procedures (Part 2) and lend-lease and civilian supply 
(Part 7) in groups of chapters separate from the mostly chronological, “operational” 
narratives tracing strategic-logistical planning for the great offensive campaigns of the 
Western Allies during 1943^-5. These operational chapters also treat the war against the 
European Axis (Parts 1, 3, 4) and the war against Japan (Parts 5, 6) in separate 
compartments, while still making clear the essential interconnections between the two. 
A final chapter (XXXII) analyzes, in broad strokes, the evolving relationship between 


THE WAR DEPARTMENT 


13 


logistics and strategy over the entire span of the war. 

Among the distinctive and valuable contributions of these two volumes to the 
Army’s official World War II history, special mention should be given the examina¬ 
tion in depth of four major spheres of wartime logistics: foreign aid, assault and cargo 
shipping, and logistical organization and method. Foreign aid is mainly the story of 
lend-lease, the system of pooling and allocating munitions among coalition allies, 
primarily to the British Empire and the Soviet Union (XXV-XXIX); it also includes 
civilian supply (XXX, XXXI): the responsibility assumed by the Army, from mid- 

1943 on, for provision of essential services and material needs of civilian populations 
in liberated and occupied territories. Assault shipping (landing ships and craft and 
amphibian vehicles) was an indispensable prerequisite, hardly foreseen before the war 
and tardily and grudgingly recognized after it began, for the numerous over-the-beach 
landings on hostile shores that spearheaded many offensives in the Atlantic, Mediter¬ 
ranean, Pacific, and Far East theaters. The emergence of the problem is treated in the 
1940—43 volume; this book describes the “crash” production programs of 1943 and 

1944 and the severe limitations that shortages of this critical resource imposed on the 
scope and range of virtually every amphibious operation from mid-1943 on. Cargo 
shipping was the basic instrument for carriage of war materiel across seas and oceans, 
and thus a key element in the coordination of operations in a multitheater conflict. In 
a war of many bottlenecks, assault shipping and cargo shipping were the most 
persistent and salient. Organization and method, probably the most esoteric aspects 
of logistics, are nevertheless its inescapable essence in what Jomini called a “science 
of detail” and of course required reading for future planners of big wars. 

Building on the solid foundation laid in the predecessor volume, this study 
devotes three chapters (IV, V, VI) to an exposition of the mature wartime system of 
1943^45—organization, requirements/production, and wholesale distribution—in¬ 
cluding the mysteries of the joint (such as Army-Navy) logistical system and its 
interaction with the largely civilian machinery for management of the war economy. 
Three more chapters and parts of another (XVI-XVIII, XX, XXIV) describe the 
complex variations of the system developed to support the war of vast oceanic 
distances and primitive infrastructure in the Pacific, including redeployment for the 
single-front war in 1945. In addition, the evolution of organization and method is a 
major theme of the foreign aid story in Chapters XXV-XXXI. 

Key topics: 

1. An overview of logistics in World War II—major trends and developments (Ch. 
XXXII). 

2. Strategic-logistical planning and buildup for the cross-Channel invasion, 
1 943-44 (Chs. I-III, VII-X V). 

3. Strategic-logistical planning for the invasion of Sicily (Chs. II—III). 

4. Strategic-logistical planning for Allied operations in the Mediterranean, 1943- 
45 (Chs. VII-IX, XI, XIII-XV). 

5. Strategic-logistical planning for operations in the China-Burma-India Theater 
(Ch. XXI). 

6. Organization and processes for logistical planning: U.S. Army, joint, and 
combined (Chs. IV-VI). 



14 


READER'S GUIDE 


7. The role of logistics in strategic planning (Ch. XXXII). 

8. The relation of military requirements to strategy and production capabilities 
(Chs. V, VI, XXIII). 

9. The system of pooling and allocating munitions among coalition allies (Chs. 
XXV-XXIX). 

10. The role of ocean shipping in global war (Chs. II, III, X, XII, XIV, XV, XIX, 
XXII, XXIII). 

11. Assault shipping in Allied strategy in World War II (Chs. I—III, VII-XV, XVII, 
XX, XXXII). 

12. Assault shipping at the midwar Allied conferences in 1943 (Chs. Ill, VIII, XI). 

13. Military lend-lease to the USSR in the later war years (Ch. XXVII). 

14. Military lend-lease to liberated nations in World War II (Ch. XXVIII). 

15. Military lend-lease to Latin America in World War II (Ch. XXVIII). 

16. Military lend-lease to China, 1943—45 (Ch. XXIX). 

17. The Army and civilian supply (Chs. XXX-XXXI). 

18. Joint logistics in the war against Japan, 1943^44 (Chs. XVI-XIX). 

19. Army logistics in the Pacific, 1943^44 (Ch. XX). 

20. Logistics of the one-front war, 1945 (Ch. XXIV). 


THE ARMY AND ECONOMIC MOBILIZATION. By R. Elberton Smith. (1959, 
1985; 749 pages, 63 tables, 4 charts, 11 illustrations, bibliographical note, glossaries, 
index, CMH Pub 1-7.) 

No ingredient of the power with which the Allies inflicted defeat on their enemies 
in World War II is less in dispute than the overwhelming superiority in the materiel of 
war that they ultimately developed. Equally evident is the fact that the United States took 
the lead in producing the great variety and huge quantities of munitions, military 
equipment, supplies, and services that gave them this superiority. The present volume 
is a description and analysis of the basic problems, policies, and procedures with which 
the War Department, in cooperation with almost every other agency of government, was 
concerned in carrying out a nationwide program of economic mobilization. 

This work traces the foundations of the achievement in the nation’s experience of 
World War I and the planning for economic mobilization with which the War 
Department was charged in the period between the two wars. It describes, for each of 
the major substantive areas of economic mobilization, the nation’s transition from a 
peacetime status through the eighteen-month “defense period” to the achievement of 
a full-fledged war economy. 

Before production for war had reached its peak, planning for a return to a peacetime 
economy began, and the book in its concluding chapters describes this and the operations 
by which the vast machine was dismantled and reconverted. An “epilogue” chapter 
reviews and summarizes the effort of economic mobilization as a whole and presents the 
author’s conclusions. 

The volume concentrates on the basic issues as they appeared at the highest 
policy-making levels of the War Department—the Office of the Under Secretary of 


THE WAR DEPARTMENT 


15 


War and the staff divisions of the Headquarters of the Army Service Forces. 
Nevertheless, in order to show the operational effects of the policies adopted, and in 
turn the reciprocal effects of operations on policy, the study includes many of the 
activities of the Army’s actual procuring arms and services. 

These operations are set forth in detail in the volumes of the United States Army 
in World War II devoted to each of the technical services. The present volume, in 
addition to forming the capstone of these as far as they relate to economic mobilization 
and reconversion, is closely related to such others in the series as both Global 
Logistics and Strategy volumes, The Army and Industrial Manpower, and The 
Organization and Role of the Army Service Forces. It may also be read to advantage 
in conjunction with the various histories, official and unofficial, that describe the 
wartime activities of other governmental agencies on the home front. 

Key topics: 

1. The following subject areas are discussed throughout: 

a. Economics of war. 

b. Relation between economic, political, and other factors in the development 
and administration of economic control systems. 

c. Production feasibility of wartime requirement programs. 

d. Organization and administration of military procurement; military versus 
civilian responsibility for procurement; quantities, varieties, and special characteris¬ 
tics of military procurement items. 

e. Contract placement problems: selection of contractors, development and 
use of the negotiated contract, preliminary contractual instruments, and contract 
forms. 

f. Wartime pricing problems: effects of the decline of competition in wartime; 
pricing policy as a means of economizing real resources; dilemmas posed by the 
requirement of “close pricing”; effects of ceiling prices upon military procurement; 
and alternative and complementary solutions to wartime pricing problems. 

2. Problems of small business in the placement and administration of war 
contracts (Ch. XVIII). 

3. Financing of military and industrial facilities (Chs. XIX-XXI). 

4. War Department procurement planning—1920^40 (Ch. III). 

5. Nationwide industrial mobilization planning—1920^10 (Ch. IV). 

6. Methods of determining military requirements (Chs. VI-VIII). 

7. Nature and administration of Army cost-plus-a-fixed-fee contracts in World 
Warll (Ch. XII). 

8. Pricing in fixed-price contracts; origin and development of progressive pricing 
articles (Ch. XIII). 

9. Contract renegotiation—origin and nature, principles, policies, and results in 
World War II (Chs. X V-XVI). 

10. Nature and administration of “tax amortization” provisions for rapid write¬ 
off of capital facilities in World War II (Ch. XX). 

11. Evolution and administration of the priorities system in World War II (Chs. 
XXIII-XXIV). 


16 


READER'S GUIDE 


12. Origin, adoption, and administration of the Controlled Materials Plan (Ch. XXV). 

13. Contract termination and settlement: basic policies, procedures, and results 
for World War II (Chs. XXVII-XXIX). 


THE ARMY AND INDUSTRIAL MANPOWER. By Byron Fairchild and 
Jonathan Grossman. (1959,1970; 291 pages, 3 tables, 2 charts, bibliographical note, 
glossary, index, CMH Pub 1-8.) 

The administration and management of industrial labor, except in the Army’s 
arsenals, were until World War I fields remote from the traditional responsibilities of 
the Army. In World War II the War Department found itself drawn into these areas 
to an unprecedented extent, not only by its concern for the output of munitions, but 
also by its new responsibilities regarding industry in such fields as the maintenance 
of security in war plants, the enforcement of labor laws and policies, and the 
administration of facilities forcibly seized by the government to avert stoppage of 
production by labor-management disputes. The present volume is not intended to be 
a comprehensive treatise; the aim, instead, is to illustrate by discussion of selected 
topics the nature of the problems the War Department faced in relation to the 
employment of industrial manpower and the policies and procedures that it developed 
to deal with them. This discussion is complementary to two other volumes on the 
subject of procurement, economic mobilization, and supply— The Army and Eco¬ 
nomic Mobilization and Buying Aircraft: Materiel Procurement for the Army Air 
Forces —as well as to the histories of the technical services. 

Given the experience of World War I, the concern of the War Department with 
labor problems as an aspect of its broad responsibilities for procurement was 
recognized and was the subject of planning in the years between the two world wars. 
The labor planning and the organizational developments that occurred during World 
War II are described in Chapters I and II, which provide the background for the rest 
of the volume. Chapters III through V constitute a discussion of the restrictive factors 
affecting the use of the civilian labor force that either were anticipated or assumed 
important during the war. The authors next consider the problem of labor supply, 
which gained momentum toward the end of 1943, and the efforts of the Army to meet 
it (Chs. VI through IX). They describe the measures taken to recruit additional 
workers and the successful special project technique that was developed to deal with 
labor problems. The subject of Chapter X is the role of the Army as an instrument for 
enforcing the labor policies of the government. The use of Selective Service and the 
seizure of industrial facilities by the government as measures of enforcement are 
described. The volume concludes with a discussion of the attempts to obtain the 
enactment by Congress of some form of national service legislation (Ch. XI) and with 
a brief chronological survey (Ch. XII). 

Key topics: 

1. Labor clauses in procurement contracts. 

2. Public opinion and the mobilization of labor. 

3. Labor supply factors in contract placements and cutbacks. 


THE WAR DEPARTMENT 


17 


4. The problem of minority groups in war industry. 

5. The employment of foreign workers and prisoners of war. 

6. The use of soldiers in war industry. 

7. Compulsory service in war industry versus voluntary labor. 

8. The relation between the strength of the Army and the size of the civilian labor 
force. 

















The Army Ground Forces 








The Army Ground Forces 


The War Department and the Army underwent a radical reorganization three 
months after the United States entered World War II. That reorganization consoli¬ 
dated the undeployed forces of the Army in the continental United States under three 
major commands—the Army Ground Forces (AGF), the Army Air Forces, and the 
Services of Supply (later the Army Service Forces). It also vested in the commanders 
of the first two of these great commands the responsibilities which had formerly been 
exercised by the chiefs of the arms and made these commanders responsible for the 
organization and training of the combat forces of the Army. These volumes, written 
during and immediately after the war by historians in the Headquarters, AGF, discuss 
the exercise of those responsibilities by that headquarters insofar as they pertained to 
the size and organization of the ground combat forces. 


THE ORGANIZATION OF GROUND COMBAT TROOPS. By Kent Roberts 
Greenfield, Robert R. Palmer, and Bell I. Wiley. (1947, 1983; 540 pages, 24 tables, 
11 charts, 5 illustrations, bibliographical note, glossaries, index, CMH Pub 2-1.) 

This work opens with a history of General Headquarters (GHQ), U.S. Army, 
established in July 1940 under the direction of Lt. Gen. Lesley J. McNair, who would 
later command the Army Ground Forces. During the period of initial mobilization 
General Headquarters had the responsibility for training field forces, a task that in March 
1942 was given to the Army Ground Forces. The history of GHQ is therefore essential 
to an understanding of the reorganization that brought the Army Ground Forces into 
existence. The remainder, and greater part, of the volume is a series of six studies 
focusing on major problems presented by the mobilization and organization of the 
ground combat army and the efforts of General McNair to solve them. A final study 
deals with the reorganization of the ground forces for redeployment against Japan. 

The unpleasant discovery late in 1942 that the dual role of combatant power and 
“arsenal of democracy” was overtaxing the effective resources of the United States, 
in both manpower and industrial capacity, together with a continued shortage of 
shipping, forced the government to reconsider the size and shape of its military forces. 
As a consequence the ground forces underwent a drastic reorganization to meet 
limitations imposed by higher authority. General McNair welcomed this as an 
opportunity to produce leaner and more mobile organizations within the Army 
Ground Forces without loss of firepower and with a gain, as he believed, in capacity 
for offensive action. In general, he sought economy of force by combating the swing 



22 


READER S GUIDE 


toward specialization that had occurred as the traditional arms were mechanized and 
motorized and as new arms sprang up around the development of instruments of war 
such as the tank and tank destroyer and antiaircraft artillery. He sought by a diversity 
of means for a better balance between specialized and general purpose units. He 
contended also for a better balance between combat and service forces. The two 
principles on which he counted most heavily were pooling and reinforcement. Since 
economy of forces continues to be jeopardized by the tendency toward specialization 
and overweight in noncombat elements, the successes and limitations of General 
McNair’s drastic experiment in 1943, here presented and analyzed with reference to 
the conditions of World War II, should be instructive to those responsible for the 
effectiveness of the Army. 

For the student of national policy the studies in this volume, particularly the 
studies of mobilization, have an instructive bearing on the question of how large an 
effective force the United States can deploy in a war fought overseas. 

(In the lists that follow, the six studies comprised in this volume are arbitrarily 
assigned numerical designations 1 to 6.) 

Key topics: 

1. Training of field combat units in the period of emergency, 1941^-2 (Study 1, 
Ch. II). 

2. Origins of antitank and tank destroyer doctrine (Study 1, Ch. IV). 

3. Early plans for the organization and use of armor (Study 1, Ch. Ill) and 
subsequent modifications (Study 4, Ch. V; Study 5, Chs. I and III, pp. 430ff.; Study 
6, Ch. II). 

4. Early problems of air-ground doctrine, coordination, and training (Study 1, Ch. 
VII). 

5. Strength and distribution of ground forces in the Army, December 1941—April 
1945, with analysis, comments, and conclusions (Study 2 and table). 

6. The troop basis of the Army in World War II (Studies 2 and 6). 

7. Mobilization: problems and history in World War II (Study 3). 

8. Mobilization: effect of changes in war plans (Study 3, Ch. II). 

9. Deceleration of the rate of mobilization to meet limitations of manpower, 
productive capacity, and shipping (Study 3, Ch. III). 

10. Impact on the troop basis of events in theaters of operations (Study 3, Ch. IV). 

11. Mobilization and deployment in first and second world wars compared 
(Study 3, Charts 1 and 2). 

12. Tactical organization of the Army before and after 8 March 1942 (Study 4; 
Study 6, Ch. II). 

13. Application of “streamlining” and the principles of pooling, flexible control, 
and reinforcement to the tactical organization of the Army in 1943 (Study 4, Chs. Ill— 
V, VII; Study 5, Ch. I) and the reaction in 1945 (Study 6). 

14. Integration of new arms, armor, tank destroyers, antiaircraft artillery, and 
airborne forces into the ground army (Study 1, Chs. Ill, IV, VI; Study 4, Chs. Ill, V, 
VI; Study 5). 

15. Reorganization for redeployment (Study 6). 

16. Test and collapse in 1942 of the “GHQ concept” as developed between 1921 


THE ARMY GROUND FORCES 


23 


and 1940 (Study 1, Chs. I, IX, X). 

17. GHQ as a command post for the control of overseas commands (Study 1, Chs. 
I, IX, and X; for transfer of this function to OPD, see Washington Command Post: The 
Operations Division, Chs. II, IV, VI, VII). 

18. The Army ’s role in amphibious training, 1940-42 (Study 1, Ch. V). 

19. Organization for defense of the continental United States (Study 1, Ch. VIII). 

20. Authorized and actual enlisted strength of troop units (Study 3). 

21. The heavy artillery program, 1942^14 (Study 3, Chart 6, and Index: “Heavy 
artillery”). 

22. The decision in favor of general purpose versus highly specialized large units 
(Study 4, Chs. V-VI). 

23. Abandonment of the “Type” army and corps and the extension of the task 
force principle (Study 4, Ch. VII). 

24. The struggle of AGF against overhead regarded as excessive (see Index: 
“Overhead”). 

25. Experiment with light divisions (Study 3, Ch. VI). 

26. Abandonment of specialized divisions: cavalry, motorized, mountain, and 
jungle (Study 3, Ch. VI). 

27. Organization of new arms for training (Study 5, Ch. II). 

28. Typical redeployment experience of a division (Study 6, Ch. IV). 

29. Effect of the point system (individual demobilization) on redeployment 
(Study 6, Ch. I). 

30. Discussion of the total size of the ground combat force that the United States 
could deploy overseas (Study 3). 

31. The adverse effects of mechanization and motorization on the transportability 
of ground forces and their mobility in the field (Study 4, Chs. II, V, and VI). 

32. Initial organization and training of airborne units (Study 1, Ch. VI) and 
changes of organization in 1943 (Study 4, Ch. VI). 

33. Conflicts between a balanced force structure and the demands of the combat 
arms, old and new (Study 5, Ch. I). 

34. Headquarters organization, including the problem of size (see Index: “Head¬ 
quarters”). 


THE PROCUREMENT AND TRAINING OF GROUND COMBAT TROOPS. 

By Robert R. Palmer, Bell I. Wiley , and William R. Keast. (1948, 1975, 1991; 696 
pages, 36 tables, 4 charts, bibliographical note, glossaries, index, CMH Pub 2-2.) 

The ten studies in this volume (in further references below arbitrarily assigned 
numerical designations 1 to 10) continue the series published in The Organization of 
Ground Combat Troops. Except for Studies 4 and 5, which deal with individual 
training in the service schools of the ground forces, they focus, like those in the 
previous volume, on major problems of the Army Ground Forces, the solutions 
applied to them by that command, and the success or failure of those solutions, 
considered in the context of events and policies ot the time. 



24 


READER'S GUIDE 


Studies 4 and 5 describe the wartime methods and operations of the military 
school system. One of the most persistent problems, one that affected all the others, 
was that of procuring quality personnel that could be transformed into combat troops 
capable of meeting effectively the complex requirements of World War II. As 
measured by the Army’s general classification tests, the men allocated to the Army 
Ground Forces were inferior intellectually and physically to those allocated to the 
Army Air and Service Forces, as well as to those recruited by the Marine Corps and 
the Navy. Efforts to solve this problem, never fully successful, involved specialized 
training programs and constitute a subject of continuing concern. 

Warned by the experience of World War I, the War Department adopted in 1940 the 
policy of fully preparing its combat organizations for battle before shipping them 
overseas. General McNair, both as chief of staff of GHQ from 1940 to 1942 and as 
Commanding General of the Army Ground Forces, made the training of large forces the 
principal goal of his efforts. The program of training he devised to this end, from small- 
unit training to the maneuvers of corps and armies, and the difficulties and disappoint¬ 
ments he encountered in applying the program, receive close attention. The adverse 
effect of his policy on the training of the smaller nondi visional units of the ground forces 
is described in Study 8. General McNair also inherited, with the authority of the chiefs 
of arms vested in him in March 1942, responsibility for the procurement and training of 
replacements and the conduct of the individual training of officers and men in the service 
schools and officer candidate schools of the ground combat arms. 

The replacement system broke down as it had in World War I. The consequent crises 
in the procurement and training of replacements are described in Studies 3 and 6. The 
changes that the Army Ground Forces, acting through its Replacement and School 
Command, introduced into the service schools in the interest of economy or efficiency 
are included in the description of those schools in Study 4. Study 10, on redeployment 
training, describes changes proposed in the light of 1942—45 experience as well as those 
required by immediate problems. 

Key topics (Org is used in the lists below to refer to this work's companion volume 
The Organization of Ground Combat Troops): 

1. Policies and problems of officer procurement (Study 2; see also Org, Study 1, Ch. 

H). 

2. Training of ground units for combat (Studies 7, 8, 9; see also Org, Index: 
“Training”). 

3. Wartime training in the service schools of the ground arms (Studies 4 and 5). 

4. The building and training of infantry divisions, interferences with training, and 
the effect of these (Study 7). 

5. The training of nondivisional units in the Army Ground Forces: organization 
and programs (Study 8). 

6. The replacement system in World War II (Study 3; see also Study 6 and Study 
7, Ch. IV). 

7. Replacement training (Study 6). 

8. Effect of uncalculated demands on programs of training (Study 3, Ch. II; Study 
6, Ch. IV; Study 7, Ch. IV and Tables 2 and 4; Study 8, Ch. Ill; Study 9, Ch. Ill; Study 
10, Ch. II). 


THE ARMY GROUND FORCES 


25 


9. Impact of unexpected, or concentrated, losses on the provision and training of 
replacements (Study 3, Ch. II). 

10. The Army classification system: its adverse effect on the ground arms (Study 
1, Ch. I). 

11. Effect of preferential assignment to the Army Air Forces on the personnel of 
the Army Ground Forces (Study 1, Ch. II). 

12. The Army Specialist Training Program versus the demand for higher grade 
combat troops (Study 1, Ch. II). 

13. Use of limited-service men in AGF units (Study 1, Ch. II). 

14. The origins and effect of the Physical Profile System (Study 1, Ch. III). 

15. Organization, training, and testing in the service schools (Study 4, Chs. II and 
III). 

16. Methods used to ensure readiness of units for deployment overseas (Study 9). 

17. Testing the effects of training (see Index: “Tests”; also Org, Study 1, Ch. II, 
and Index: “Tests”). 

18. Effects of the policy of individual (versus unit) battle replacements (Study 3, 
Ch. III). 

19. Officer candidate schools (Study 5). 

20. Organization and methods of the replacement training centers of the Army 
Ground Forces (Study 6). 

21. Adjustments of replacement training to theater requirements (Study 6, Ch. IV). 

22. The stripping of divisions for replacements and its effect on their battle 
readiness (Study 7, Ch. IV, and Tables). 

23. Shortages of equipment and their effect on training (Study 7, Chs. II and III). 

24. Organization of new arms for training (see Org, Study 5, Ch. II). 

25. Use of maneuvers as a training device (Study 1, Ch. II). 















The Army Service Forces 

















The Army Service Forces 


This subseries describes and analyzes the military management of a vast complex 
of activities which during World War II fell generally into the field of logistics. In 
March 1942, in order to free General Marshall and the General Staff of a mass of 
administrative burdens, operational responsibility for the continental United States 
was delegated to three major commands: the Army Ground Forces (Lt. Gen. Lesley 
J. McNair), the Army Air Forces (Lt. Gen. Henry H. Arnold), and the Army Service 
Forces—at first the Services of Supply (Lt. Gen. Brehon B. Somervell). The present 
volume is a study of the third of these great commands, written by an author trained 
in political science and public administration, who was an adviser to General 
Somervell. 


THE ORGANIZATION AND ROLE OF THE ARMY SERVICE FORCES. By 

John D. Millett. (1954, 1985; 494 pages, 3 tables, 7 charts, 8 illustrations, 9 
appendixes, bibliographical note, glossary, index, CMH Pub 3-1.) 

This work examines World War II from the viewpoint of the Commanding 
General of the Army Service Forces, Lt. Gen. Brehon B. Somervell. It is concerned 
with problems of materiel rather than manpower. A study in the problems of 
management, it deliberately dwells on the conflicts which arose inside and outside the 
command. 

As a result of the 1942 reorganization General Somervell became the commander 
of the supply (“technical”) and administrative services and of the nine corps areas of 
the United States. He also became the principal adviser to the Undersecretary of War 
and the Chief of Staff on logistical matters and was on occasion sent by them as a 
troubleshooter to theaters of operations. Inside the War Department General 
Somervell’s interpretation of the necessary role of his organization brought it into 
conflict with the powerful Operations Division of the General Staff (OPD), particu¬ 
larly with regard to the relationship of strategy and supply (which are explored in 
Chapters IV and V) and also with regard to the jurisdiction of the Army Service Forces 
over the strongly entrenched chiefs of the supply and administrative services. 

Outside the War Department the Commanding General, Army Service Forces, 
clashed with the War Production Board. The story of this conflict has been told 
elsewhere from the point of view of the War Production Board (in The United States 
at War [Washington, 1946], a publication of the Bureau of the Budget; and in 





30 


READER'S GUIDE 


Donald M. Nelson, Arsenal of Democracy [New Y ork, 1946]). In the present volume 
the position of the Army Service Forces is fully set forth (Chs. XIII-XV), the lessons 
derived from this conflict are discussed (Ch. XIX), and there is a recital of the less 
troubled relationships of the Army Service Forces with other civilian agencies (Chs. 
XVI-XVII) and with the Navy (Ch. XVIII). 

General Somervell's capacity as a manager was challenged not only by the 
vastness of his command but even more by the diversity of tasks and agencies for 
which it was responsible. The work gives extended attention to the ASF chief s efforts 
to achieve an effective organization, particularly to his efforts to coordinate the 
technical services (Ch. XX), establish a unified field organization for service activities 
(Ch. XXI), rationalize his huge headquarters (Ch. XXII), and introduce into his 
command continuous improvements in management (Chs. XXIII, XXIV). 

This volume presents the most instructive experiment made by the Army before 
1954 in centralizing the command of logistical operations. To complete a study of the 
activities of the Army Service Forces, the reader should consult other volumes in the 
United States Army in World War II, such as both Global Logistics and Strategy 
volumes, The Army and Economic Mobilization, The Army and Industrial Man¬ 
power, and Buying Aircraft: Materiel Procurement for the Army Air Forces; 
Washington Command Post: The Operations Division, Chs. XIII-XIV; The Persian 
Corridor and Aid to Russia , Chs. X-XII; and the volumes in the technical service 
subseries, in which the Army Service Forces is observed from the point of view of its 
subordinate commands. 

Key topics: 

1. Wartime organization of the continental United States (the zone of interior) in 
a war fought overseas (Chs. I, II, IX, XX, XXI, XXIV). 

2. Centralization versus decentralization in the wartime administration of supply 
in the zone of interior (Chs. XI, XX, XXI). 

3. Coordination of the distribution of supplies between the zone of interior and 
theaters of operations (Chs. Ill—V, VII). 

4. The problem of command relations in supplying combat forces in the zone of 
interior (Chs. VIII, XI). 

5. Common versus separate supply for ground, air, and sea forces (Chs. VIII, XI, 
XVIII). 

6. Relationships and conflicts of interest between military and civilian authority 
in the control of procurement and industrial mobilization for war (Chs. XIII-XVII, 
XIX). 

7. The relation of strategy and logistics in military planning (Chs. Ill, VII). 

8. Use of a “control” agency as a managerial device in a large military 
organization (Ch. XXIII). 

9. Civilian versus military control of the wartime economy of the United States 
(Ch. XIX). 

10. Administration of military lend-lease supplies (Chs. Ill, XVII). (For a fuller 
treatment, see both Global Logistics and Strategy volumes.) 

11. The supply aspects of the reorganization of the War Department in March 
1942 (Ch. II). 


THE ARMY SERVICE FORCES 


31 


12. A case study of the problem of planning versus operational activity in 
defining the proper authority and functions of the General Staff (Chs. I, II, VII, X, XII). 

13. The problem of controlling the size of military headquarters, for which a 
solution was not found in World War II (Ch. XXII). 






The Western Hemisphere 









The Western Hemisphere 


The aggressive wartime strategy of the United States, concerted with its European 
Allies, into which it launched so promptly and with such a massive deployment of 
force after 7 December 1941, obscures the fact that its declared military policy before 
that date was defensive. In November 1938 President Roosevelt enunciated the 
doctrine that defense of the continental United States required, as the military 
objective of the nation, defense of the Western Hemisphere. This fixed the official 
goal for the efforts of the War Department until Pearl Harbor, and, in the view of the 
authors of these volumes, dominated its plans and preparations during the two years 
preceding the Destroyer-Base Agreement of September 1940. Even after that the 
requirements of hemisphere defense defined the framework within which the Army 
and its Air Forces put into effect the limited preparations and actions that were directed 
against the aggressions of Nazi Germany and Japanese imperialism. The areacovered 
in these two volumes is vast and so are the topics. 


THE FRAMEWORK OF HEMISPHERE DEFENSE. By Stetson Conn and 
Byron Fairchild. (1960, 1989; 470 pages, 1 map, bibliographical note, glossaries, 
index, CMH Pub 4-1.) 

The new military policy of hemisphere defense enunciated in 1938 was a reaction 
to the increasing offensive potentiality of military aircraft. The continental United 
States could not at that time be invaded or seriously threatened unless the attack was 
backed by land-based air power. Hostile airplanes in significant numbers could not 
then be projected across the oceans, but they could be launched from bases established 
in other parts of the Western Hemisphere within striking distance of the United States 
and its possessions. The basic mission of the armed forces under the hemisphere 
defense policy was therefore to prevent the establishment of hostile air bases in the 
Western Hemisphere. Since eastern Brazil seemed to offer the most likely initial 
location for such bases, it became the focus of Army plans and actions for hemisphere 
defense. 

In the early summer of 1940 the quick defeat of France and seemingly precarious 
position of Great Britain created an emergency that required much closer military ties 
between the United States and the other New World nations. Military collaboration 
with Canada evolved thereafter with a minimum of friction into a close partnership. 
Since the Latin American nations at that time had almost no military strength by 




36 


READER’S GUIDE 


modem standards, the United States had to assume almost complete responsibility for 
defending them against external attack. At the same time it had to avoid any 
infringement—real or imagined—on Latin American sovereignty. Aided by the trust 
inspired by the “Good Neighbor” policy of preceding years, the United States 
persuaded most of these nations to accept its pledges of armed support, and from June 
1940 onward it entered into military collaboration with them to an unprecedented 
degree. This collaboration included a military association with Mexico almost as 
close as that with Canada—in marked contrast with the hostile attitude of Mexico 
toward the United States during World War I. The groundwork of successful 
collaboration with the other New World nations allowed the United States Army to 
begin to deploy its offensive strength overseas almost immediately after the Japanese 
attack. 

The opening chapters of the present volume (I—VII) are an introduction to this 
story and to a sequel volume, Guarding the United States and Its Outposts. These 
chapters trace the evolution of the policy of hemisphere defense in the three years 
before Pearl Harbor, the gradual merging of hemisphere defense into the broader 
national policy of opposing German and Japanese aggression by all-out aid to peoples 
fighting the Axis, and the quick transition to offensive plans and preparations in 
December 1941. They describe the crises that faced or appeared to face the United 
States in May 1940 and again in May 1941 (Chs. II, V), the nature of the German and 
Japanese threats to the Western Hemisphere (Ch. Ill), and the preoccupation of the 
United States with the perilous situation in the Atlantic and Europe that blinded the 
nation to the menace of Japan in the Pacific until the very eve of open conflict. The 
next three chapters (VIII-X) relate the general plans and measures of the United States 
for defending Latin America against attack from overseas and for collaborating with 
the other American republics toward that end. The chapters which follow describe the 
specific steps in collaboration with Brazil (XI-XII), Mexico (XIII), and Canada (XIV- 
XV). The concluding chapter (XVI) is a summary and interpretation. 

Key topics: 

1. The background and development of war plans for defending the Western 
Hemisphere (Chs. I-II, IV-VII). 

2. The relationship of these hemisphere defense plans to broader war plans (Chs. 
II, IV-VII). 

3. The transition in national military policy from hemisphere to world defense 
against aggression (Chs. I—VII). 

4. The nature and extent of German and Japanese threats to the American 
continents (Chs. Ill, V-VII). 

5. Military negotiations and relationships of the United States with the other 
American nations before and during World War II (Ch. VIII). 

6. The supply of arms to Latin American nations (Chs. IX, XI-XIII). 

7. Preparations for Army air operations in the Latin American area (Ch. X). 

8. The establishment and operations of U.S. Army forces in Brazil (Chs. XI, XII). 

9. Military cooperation and collaboration between the United States and Mexico 
(Ch. XIII). 

10. Military cooperation and collaboration between the United States and Canada 


THE WESTERN HEMISPHERE 


37 


(Chs. XIV-XV; treated more fully in Military Relations Between the United States 
and Canada: 1939-1945). 

11. U.S. Army operations in northern Canada during World War II (Ch. XV). 

12. Army-Navy joint action and relationships in support of hemisphere defense 
plans and measures (Ch. I). 

13. The interplay between military and political objectives in planning and 
executing hemisphere defense measures (Ch. I). 

14. The organization and strength of the United States Army, 1939-41 (Chs. I—II, 
VI). 

15. The military weakness of the United States during a period of rapid 
mobilization (Chs. II, IV-VI). 

16. Army plans for emergency expeditionary forces (Chs. I, II, IV-VII). 

17. American entry into the Battle of the Atlantic (Chs. I, II, IV-VI). 

18. American military policy and plans for action toward European possessions 
under threat of hostile control (Chs. I, II, IV-VII). 

19. The Destroyer-Base Agreement of 1940 (Ch. II). 

20. Plans for military action in the Azores, Iceland, and other Atlantic areas during 
1940 and 1941 (Chs. IV-VII). 


GUARDING THE UNITED STATES AND ITS OUTPOSTS. By Stetson Conn, 
Rose C. Engel man, and Byron Fairchild. (1964, 1989; 593 pages, 5 tables, 1 chart, 
6 maps, 34 illustrations, bibliographical note, glossary, index, CMH Pub 4-2.) 

This volume continues the discussion begun in The Framework of Hemisphere 
Defense by describing how the Army contributed to the security of the national 
bastion. The discussion naturally divides itself into three sections. The first describes 
organization of Army forces for protection of the continental United States before and 
during the war, including elaboration of harbor and air defenses; the Army’s role in 
civilian defense; and protection against subversion after Pearl Harbor, including a 
detailed account of the controversial evacuation of persons of Japanese ancestry from 
the West Coast. The next section outlines the Army’s preparations for defense of the 
principal outlying possessions of Hawaii, Alaska, and the Canal Zone and includes 
an abbreviated account of the attack at Pearl Harbor and the Aleutian Islands 
Campaign, the only major ground operation to occur in the hemisphere during the war. 
The third section explains the creation of Army defenses to secure the Panama Canal 
in the south and the similar outpost line erected in the North Atlantic. 

Governmental decisions to participate in the defense of Greenland and Iceland are 
explained as the culmination of American defensive measures by ground and air 
forces before the United States became a belligerent in World War II. Throughout, 
the authors stress the intimate relationship between American policy and the 
preservation of a North Atlantic lifeline to Great Britain, as well as the direct 
relationship between security of the Americas and the operations of the Royal Navy. 
Two other issues merit special mention. First is the tension between the natural desire 
to use a limited Army to defend the hemisphere in the opening days of the war and 



38 


READER’S GUIDE 


the need to use those same soldiers to train the large citizen army needed to pursue the 
war. Second is the evolution of the nation from a defensive to an offensive posture, 
specifically during the Coral Sea, Midway, and North Africa campaigns in view of the 
steadily declining threat of Axis attacks directed at the United States proper. 

Key topics: 

1. Transition from peacetime Army command and organization to wartime 
organization (Chs. II, III). 

2. Problems in establishing unity of command among the services for hemisphere 
defense (Ch. IV). 

3. The defensive problems facing the United States as a continental power 
isolated by two oceans, and the relationship between security of the homeland and 
offensive action in overseas theaters (Ch. III). 

4. Defensive preparations in the outlying possessions of the United States during 
1940 and 1941 (Chs. VII, IX, XII, XIII). 

5. Acquisition, manning, and organization of new bases in the Atlantic and 
Caribbean in 1940-41 (Chs. XIV, XV). 

6. Administrative processes leading to the administration’s decision to evacuate 
resident enemy aliens and Americans of Japanese ancestry from the western states 
(Ch. V). 

7. Fighting on the periphery of the American defensive perimeter in 1941—42, 
including Pearl Harbor, Alaska, and the Panama Canal Zone (Chs. VII, X, XI, XVI). 

8. Establishment of wartime bases in Greenland and Iceland (Chs. XVII, XVIII, 
XIX, XX). 


The War in the Pacific 










The War in the Pacific 


The volumes of the United States Army in World War II devoted to the war in the 
Pacific form a comprehensive account which should be of interest both to soldiers and 
civilians. Each volume is complete in itself and can be read independently. (Cross 
references guide the reader to other volumes for additional information.) The 
emphasis throughout is on the U.S. Army, but operations of the U.S. Navy, Air 
Forces, and Marines, as well as those of Allied nations, are covered in summary where 
they are related to the Army’s operations or when they had an important or decisive 
effect on the outcome. The level of treatment and the amount of detail included vary 
with each volume and are determined by the nature of the operation. Each book 
includes sufficient material on strategy, logistics, and the activities of supporting arms 
and services to make clear why an operation was undertaken and how it was supported. 

The plan of the Pacific subseries was determined by the geography, strategy, and 
the military organization of a theater largely oceanic. Two independent, coordinate 
commands, one in the Southwest Pacific under General of the Army Douglas 
MacArthur and the other in the Central, South, and North Pacific (Pacific Ocean 
Areas) under Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, were created early in the war. Except 
in the South and Southwest Pacific, each conducted its own operations with its own 
ground, air, and naval forces in widely separated areas. These operations required at 
first only a relatively small number of troops whose efforts often yielded strategic 
gains which cannot be measured by the size of the forces involved. Indeed, the nature 
of the objectives—small islands, coral atolls, and jungle-bound harbors and airstrips— 
made the employment of large ground forces impossible and highlighted the 
importance of air and naval operations. Thus, until 1945, the war in the Pacific 
progressed by a double series of amphibious operations each of which fitted into a 
strategic pattern developed in Washington. 

In recognition of this fact, the Pacific subseries is organized chronologically by 
campaigns corresponding approximately to the divisions of command and to the 
strategical objectives set by the Joint Chiefs of Staff. First in the subseries (the volumes 
are unnumbered) is The Fall of the Philippines which describes fully the Japanese 
air attacks on the opening days of the war, the invasion that followed, the withdrawal to 
Bataan, the tragic defeat there and on Corregidor, the campaigns in Mindanao and 
theVisayas, and the final surrender in May 1942. 

The next two volumes deal with the operations in the Solomons and New Guinea 
conducted simultaneously (August 1942-February 1943) but under separate commands. 


42 


READER’S GUIDE 


Guadalcanal: The First Offensive describes the campaign in the Solomons by Admiral 
William F. Elalsey, Jr.'s South Pacific forces; Victory in Papua details the long struggle 
of General Mac Arthur’s Southwest Pacific forces to oust the Japanese from Buna on the 
southeast coast of New Guinea. Final success in these two campaigns in February 1943 
removed the danger to the Allied line of communications running from the United States 
to Australia and prepared the way for an offensive against Rabaul, the great Japanese 
base in New Britain. 

Neutralization and encirclement of that bastion were accomplished between June 
1943 and March 1944 in a series of operations described in CARTWHEEL: The 
Reduction of Rabaul. These operations consisted of simultaneous and coordinated 
drives along the New Guinea coast and up the Solomons “ladder” by forces of the 
South and Southwest Pacific under MacArthur’s direction. Included in the volume 
are accounts of the campaigns against New Georgia, Bougainville, Lae, Salamaua, 
Finschhafen, Cape Gloucester, and the Admiralties. 

While the offensive against Rabaul was in progress, Admiral Nimitz’s forces in 
the Central Pacific took the offensive and between November 1943 and March 1944 
seized successively positions in the Gilbert and Marshall Islands (Makin, Tarawa, 
Kwajalein, and Eniwetok). These operations, described in Seizure of the Gilberts and 
Marshalls , advanced Allied forces 2,700 miles across the Pacific. Operations in the 
Marianas during the following June and July are covered in a separate volume. 
Campaign in the Marianas , which describes operations against Saipan, Tinian, and 
Guam, take-off point for the B-29 raids against Japan. 

In the Southwest Pacific General MacArthur’s forces, starting with the landing at 
Hollandia in New Guinea in April 1944, advanced by a series of amphibious hops up 
the New Guinea coast until by September they had reached Morotai, at the threshold 
of the Philippines. These operations, which include the seizure of Aitape, Wakde, 
Biak, Noemfoor, and Sansapor as well as the Central Pacific Campaign in the Palaus, 
are described in The Approach to the Philippines. 

The liberation of the Philippines is described in two volumes. The first, Leyte: The 
Return to the Philippines , carries Mac Arthur’s forces, augmented by a U.S. Army corps 
from the Central Pacific, into the heart of the archipelago in October 1944. From there, 
the troops of the Southwest Pacific went on to take Mindoro, Luzon, the Visayas, and 
Mindanao in a series of operations described in the volume entitled Triumph in the 
Philippines. The bulk of this volume deals with the recapture of Luzon, the most 
important island in the archipelago. 

The forces of the Central Pacific, meanwhile, had continued their drive toward the 
Japanese home islands, capturing I wo Jima in February 1945 (an operation not covered 
in this series since no Army troops were involved) and landing in the Ryukyus at the end 
of March. This last campaign, which went on until July, a month before the Japanese 
surrender, is described in Okinawa: The Last Battle. 

A capstone volume, Strategy and Command: The First Two Years , views the background 
and progress of the war in the Pacific from the perspectives of Washington as well as of 


THE WAR IN THE PACIFIC 


43 


the theater commanders. It deals with the major strategic, organizational, and logistical 
plans and problems through December 1943 that affected U.S. Army operations in the 
Pacific and set the pattern for the war against Japan. 


STRATEGY AND COMMAND: THE FIRSTTWO YEARS. By Louis Morton. 
(1962,1989; 761 pages, 13 tables, 16 charts, 17 maps, 92 illustrations, 23 appendixes, 
bibliographical note, glossaries, index, CMH Pub 5-1.) 


This volume is the capstone of The War in the Pacific subseries, drawing on the 
operational volumes that preceded it in the subseries and providing the broad 
perspective on Japanese and Allied interests in the Pacific basin that shaped the war 
between these antagonists. As one of the later volumes in the United States Army in 
World War II series, it cross-references and often amplifies coverage of global 
strategic issues in the volumes on Strategic Planning for Coalition Warfare and 
Global Logistics and Strategy. Since this work traces the growing tensions between 
Japan and the United States against the broad background of prewar military planning, 
it also provides a useful complement to Chief of Staff: Prewar Plans and Prepara¬ 
tions. 

After sketching early U.S. strategic thinking about the problem of Pacific 
strategy, with special attention to the problems of defense of the Philippines, the work 
presents a full treatment of evolving Japanese strategy through the decision for war. 
Early Allied strategic decision, to include the “Europe First” policy, the challenges 
associated with accommodating U.S. policy to “colonial” and commonwealth 
expectations, and the tensions between the U.S. Army and the Navy are developed 
carefully. Steps taken at the national and coalition level during the early months of 
Japanese victories on vast fronts are presented in the context of the clashes of arms that 
resulted in those victories. After the fall of the Philippines, the Allied command 
relationships stabilized, and the various headquarters are described in detail as 
products of the complex political, geographic, and strategic factors that shaped them. 
Complementary sections analyze the Japanese command system, highlighting both 
its strengths and weaknesses. 

Since the Pacific is clearly a joint theater, naval battles. Marine Corps contribu¬ 
tions, and the myriad tactical questions that spill over into strategic debates are 
presented. Logistical difficulties abound in the theater selected for the “economy of 
force” effort, and the ways in which enemy action, bureaucratic decision making, and 
powerful personalities undermined the Europe First priority system provide useful 
lessons for those who are interested in problems in policy implementation. 

After the battles of Coral Sea and Midway, both sides in the Pacific theater 
attempted to match resources with strategic concepts to impose their will on the 
enemy. The United States was hampered in this effort by a lack of unity of command, 
the vastness of the Japanese defensive perimeter, and the distances from U.S. ports. 
This volume traces the evolution of strategic plans designed to overcome those 
difficulties and outlines the operations conducted in consonance with those plans. 


44 


READER'S GUIDE 


Throughout, the impact of the major conferences among the Allies that shaped their 
grand strategy of the war is assessed, and the twists and turns imposed on strategy by 
the actions of the enemy are described. Even though the volume ends with plans being 
evolved in late 1943, the material capabilities and doctrinal framework necessary to 
achieve tactical victory were in place by that time, and the strategic pattern for the 
remainder of the war was reasonably clear. The last six volumes of operational history 
in the subseries each contain the necessary strategic setting for the campaign 
described. 

While focusing primarily on action in the Central and Southwest Pacific, this 
volume also provides the strategic setting for operations in the Aleutians covered in 
greater detail in Guarding the United States audits Outposts. In this volume, as in 
all others, the detailed citations to the U.S. Navy’s and U.S. Air Force’s histories 
provide a fuller understanding of the campaigns in the Pacific theater. 

Key topics: 

1. Unity of command, combined and joint (Chs. XI, XVI, XXIV). 

2. Planning and preparation for joint operations (Chs. XIX, XX, XXI, XXV). 

3. Interplay among theater, JCS, and combined strategic concepts (Chs. VII, VIII, 
XI, XXIV). 

4. Relationships between political and military considerations (Chs. II, III, IV, 

VII, IX, XXII, XXVII). 

5. Divergence of strategic outlook of the Army and Navy (Chs. XI, XIII, XVI, 
XXII). 

6. Relation between military planning and war aims (Chs. II, V, XVIII, XXII, 
XXIX). 

7. Planning against scarce resources (Chs. XIV, XV, XXIII, XXVI). 

8. War Department and Joint Board prewar strategic planning (Chs. I, II). 

9. Evolution of the Europe First policy (Chs. II, III, XVIII). 

10. Japanese High Command organization and decisions (Chs. IV, V, X, XVIII, 
XXVII). 

11. Initial Japanese offensive (Chs. VI, VII, VIII, XII). 

12. Initial Allied command relationships and defensive responses (Chs. VI, VII, 

VIII, IX, X, XI). 

13. Army-Navy command relationships and theater-level joint planning (Chs. 
XI, XIII, XVI, XVII, XIX, XXIII, XXIX). 

14. Planning and executing Cartwheel (operations in South and Southwest 
Pacific, August-December 1943) (Chs. XX, XXV, XXVI, XXVIII). 

15. The Philippines and the Central Pacific strategy debate (Chs. XXII, XXIII). 

16. The Aleutians in Pacific strategy (Ch. XXI). 


THE FALL OF THE PHILIPPINES. By Louis Morton. (1953,1989; 626 pages, 
11 tables, 26 maps, 57 illustrations, bibliographical note, index, CMH Pub 5-2.) 

This work treats one of the initial campaigns of the war of the Pacific (8 December 
1941 through 6 May 1942), which ended with the Japanese conquest of the Philippine 


THE WAR IN THE PACIFIC 


45 


Islands. The records of the victorious force, always better preserved than those of 
the vanquished, were at the disposal of the author, while those of the U.S. Army that 
survived have been supplemented with personal documents, letters, and extensive 
interviews. The result is a study of decisions and operations on each side of this 
campaign in relation to those of the other. 

The first Philippine campaign presents an opportunity to study a retrograde 
movement by large American forces (the withdrawal to Bataan) and the methods by 
which General MacArthur and his commanders executed it with complete success. 
The book also recounts in detail the defeat and surrender of an American force of 
140,000 men. It also presents the campaign in the larger perspective of global strategy 
and national policies, underlining the consequences of staking vital strategic and 
political objectives on military means insufficient to secure the objects of national 
policy. 

The hope of holding the Philippines until the fleet could arrive was fading long 
before that fleet was crippled at Pearl Harbor. But the belief that long-range bombers 
in the Philippines could serve as a deterrent to the military expansion of the Japanese 
in Southeast Asia led the United States in July 1941 to place at General Mac Arthur ’ s 
disposal all the B-17 bombers then available and in production. That illusion was 
destroyed and the Philippines virtually isolated when General MacArthur’s air power 
was shattered on the first day of war. The present volume focuses new light on the 
heritage of controversy and conflicting explanations which that disaster produced. 

The author’s account of the subsequent campaign presents in detail a fight by 
American ground forces against an enemy in complete control of the air and sea. His 
book traces step by step the short-lived effort to stop the Japanese on the beaches, the 
withdrawal to Bataan, and the stubborn defense of Bataan and the island of 
Corregidor. The American forces, largely Filipino, were ably handled but were 
inadequately trained, ill equipped, and hastily mobilized. They included one infantry 
regiment of the U.S. Army and the 4th Marine Regiment. Their armament was of 
ancient vintage: the Enfield rifle, Stokes mortar, 2.95-inch mountain gun, .75-mm. 
and 155-mm. guns of European manufacture, and the light tank. The condition of 
Corregidor, Gibraltar of the Far East, illustrates vividly the effects of military 
obsolescence in armament and concepts of defense. In a real sense, the Philippine 
campaign was the last battle of World War I. 

The logistical aspects of the campaign were of great importance and are fully 
developed in this volume. The long-standing Orange plan called only for defense 
of Corregidor and Bataan until the fleet could arrive in Manila Bay—a period estimated 
at six months. But Bataan had not been adequately stocked for a siege of this duration. 
Furthermore, General MacArthur, departing from the Orange plan, decided to 
oppose the enemy on the beaches. When this opposition immediately collapsed, 
supply officers had only two weeks to retrieve the stores they had brought forward and 
move them back to Bataan on crowded roads. Much had to be destroyed. The book 
gives a full account of the effect of shortages of supplies in producing the final agony 
of the troops and the decision by Maj. Gen. Edward P. King, Jr., to surrender in spite 
of direct orders of superior authority not to do so. 

The reduction of Corregidor, Lt. Gen. Jonathan M. Wainwright’s surrender, and 


46 


READER'S GUIDE 


its effect on the forces in the southern Philippines illustrate vividly the situation of 
commanders confronted with the unwelcome decision to surrender while still capable 
of effective local resistance. They also bring out with dramatic vividness the problems 
that face higher commanders confronted with defeat. 

Key topics: 

1 . The effect of military unreadiness on a major strategic plan (Orange) (Ch. 
IV). 

2. The capabilities and limitations of a force of non-American troops constructed 
around a trained American nucleus (Chs. VIII, X-XIII). 

3. The defense of a beachhead by American forces (Chs. VI, VIII). 

4. The effect of communications and command relationships under conditions of 
surprise (Ch. V). 

5. Effects of enemy command of the air and sea on the control, tactics, and morale 
of an American force (Chs. IX, XXII, XXIV, XXV, XXVII, XXX). 

6. The prolonged retrograde movement of a large force under strong pressure 
(Chs. XIII, XVI). 

7. The prolonged defense of an extensive fortified position under conditions of 
siege, air attack, and supply shortages (Bataan) (Chs. XVI-XIX, XXIII-XXVI). 

8. Defense of a heavily armed and fortified island under similar conditions 
(Corregidor) (Chs. XXVII, XXIX-XXXI). 

9. The relation of logistical planning and the disposition of supplies to the 
capacity for resistance (Chs. IX, X, XV, XXI, XXII). 

10. The problems of surrender (Chs. XXVI, XXXII). 

11. The use of World War I weapons and tactics in the first American campaign 
of World War II (Chs. II, VIII, XI, XV, XVI, XVII, XVIII, XXVII, XXVIII, XXIX). 


GUADALCANAL: THE FIRST OFFENSIVE. By John Miller, jr. (1949, 1989; 
413 pages, 3 charts, 36 maps, 76 illustrations, 5 appendixes, glossary, index, CMH 
Pub 5-3.) 

Guadalcanal: The First Offensive is a tactical history of ground operations 
involved in seizing and holding the heavily jungled island of Guadalcanal in the 
British Solomon Islands. It covers the campaign from the initial invasion on 7 August 
1942 to 21 February 1943 when the area including the Russell Islands was finally 
secured. In the Pacific subseries this volume follows The Fall of the Philippines, is 
concurrent with Victory in Papua , and precedes CARTWHEEL: The Reduction of 
Rabaul. 

The Guadalcanal Campaign was the first sustained Allied offensive in the Pacific. 
It began a series of amphibious attacks in the South and Southwest Pacific Areas 
which pointed toward the reduction of the great Japanese base at Rabaul in the 
Bismarck Archipelago. Just as the Japanese hoped to use Rabaul and their forward 
bases in the Solomons, the Bismarck Archipelago, and New Guinea to sever the U.S.- 
Australian line of communications, so the Allies planned their offensives to protect 


THE WAR IN THE PACIFIC 


47 


that line of communications and indirectly to clear the way for the return of American 
forces to the Philippines. 

To seize the initiative from the Japanese, the Americans were initially forced to 
launch their offensive before they had amassed the preponderance of military strength 
that characterized the latter phases of the war. Japanese reaction was so violent and 
the contestants were so evenly matched on the sea and in the air that the campaign 
developed into a six-month struggle for control of the approaches to Guadalcanal 
coupled with intense ground fighting for possession of the island itself. While air and 
naval forces fought six full-scale naval battles and hundreds of smaller engagements, 
American ground combat troops grappled with Japanese military forces in the tropical 
rain forests, in the mountains, and on grassy hills. The fight was hard, and the enemy 
skillful and stubborn. Nevertheless, the final American victory demonstrated that 
their leadership, determination, tactics, and weapons were as effective in the damp 
dark of the jungle as in the desert or on the open plains. 

The measure of the campaign is not to be found in the relatively small numbers 
of troops engaged. The Americans and Japanese were straining to bring their forces 
to bear at the end of long and vulnerable lines of communications, so that battalion 
and regimental actions assumed a much greater degree of importance than they didin, 
for example, the campaign in Europe during 1944 and 1945. 

Guadalcanal: The First Offensive treats operations of U.S. Army ground combat 
troops in detail. It summarizes the achievements of U.S. Marine Corps, Navy, Air, 
and Allied units in order to show the contributions of all. Starting at the level of corps 
and division headquarters, ground combat is explained systematically down to the 
battalion level. When possible, key actions are carried down to the level of companies, 
platoons, and even squads, for combat in the thick tropical jungles tended to break up 
into a series of small-unit fights. Every attempt is made to show the contributions of 
all supporting arms and services, so that air, artillery, engineer, and signal support are 
related to infantry action as closely as possible. 

Key topics: 

1. A case study of the strategic problems facing the high (JCS) command: theater 
problems versus grand strategy (Ch. I). 

2. An amphibious offensive: an early example of planning and execution (Chs. 

II, III). 

3. Organizing beachhead defenses (Ch. IV). 

4. The dependence of tactical strength on logistics (summarized in Ch. XIII; see 
also Chs. II-V). 

5. Japanese offensive plans and operations (Chs. V, VI). 

6. As others saw us: ‘Through Japanese eyes” (App. D). 

7. Tactical subjects: 

a. The corps in the attack (Chs. XI, XII, XIV). 

b. The regiment in the attack, with artillery and air support (Ch. XI, Sec. 1). 

c. Attack of a heavily defended area (Chs. X, XII). 

d. Defense against Japanese attack (Chs. IV, V, VI). 

e. Employment of field artillery (Ch. XI, Sec. 1, and Ch. XII, Sec. 2). 

f. A hastily improvised attack (Ch. V). 


48 


READER'S GUIDE 


VICTORY IN PAPUA. By Samuel Milner. (1957, 1989; 409 pages, 23 maps, 69 
illustrations, bibliographical note, glossaries, index, CMH Pub 5—4.) 

Soon after the shattered American Navy won its great victory at Midway, the 
United States launched its ground forces into their first offensives in the Pacific, at 
Guadalcanal as recounted above, and on the eastern tip of New Guinea. The offensive 
in Papua was an Allied operation in which the American ground contingent was 
supplied by two U.S. Army divisions, the 32d and a regiment of the 41st. Victory in 
Papua is a detailed account of their bitter experience in the operation to which they 
were committed, the objective of which was to expel the Japanese from their 
lodgments at Milne Bay, Buna, and Gona. 

This was the first offensive under General MacArthur’s command, and the 
American forces used were untried, neither trained nor seasoned for their difficult first 
assignment. For most of the Allied troops the Papua Campaign was a military 
nightmare. The work describes the agonies and frustrations of men living under 
almost intolerable conditions, plagued by disease, short of artillery, and pitted against 
a skilled and resolute foe. 

While the narrative focuses on the painful struggles of the American ground 
forces to master their environment and overcome their foes, its scope is as broad as 
the campaign and includes the direction of joint. Allied operations; the operations of 
the Australians; and the sometimes highly experimental employment of air power to 
transport and supply the ground forces as well as support them in battle. 

Key topics: 

1. Problems of joint and Allied command (Ch. II). 

2. Problems in theater strategy (Chs. I, II). 

3. Japanese offensive plans and operations (Chs. I, III, IV, V, VI). 

4. Air transport and supply (Chs. V, VII). 

5. Improvisation of logistic support (Chs. V, VII, VIII, X, XI). 

6. Effects of disease and insufficient training upon tactical efficiency (Chs. VII- 
XVIII). 

7. Small-unit attacks against fortified areas (Chs. VIII—XVIII). 

8. Special problems of command (Chs. X, XI). 

CARTWHEEL: THE REDUCTION OF RABAUL. By John Miller, jr. (1959, 
1984,1990; 418 pages, 2 tables, 11 charts, 22 maps, 89 illustrations, bibliographical 
note, glossary, index, CMH Pub 5-5.) 

The numerous and varied operations which resulted in the reduction of Rabaul 
illuminate Allied strategy, tactics, and command. The Allied offensive, begun with 
limited and costly counteroffensives on Guadalcanal and in eastern New Guinea, now 
began to take unexpectedly long strides. Postponement of the cross-Channel attack 
in favor of the invasion of North Africa, together with the rapidly mounting 
productivity of the American war economy, made it possible for the United States to 
deploy more strength in the Pacific in 1943 than its planners had originally 
anticipated. But Japanese strength had not yet been seriously impaired except in 





THE WAR IN THE PACIFIC 


49 


aircraft carriers, and Japan had the advantage of interior lines. The victorious 
operations that led to the isolation of Rabaul thus provide an inspiring and instructive 
story of successes won by strategic daring, tactical resourcefulness and flexibility, and 
human ingenuity and courage. They also demonstrate a remarkable capacity for 
teamwork at all levels. The Allied forces engaged, under the strategic direction of 
General MacArthur, were the ground, air, and naval surface forces of the South 
Pacific Area under the command of Admiral Halsey and those of the Southwest 
Pacific Area under the command of General MacArthur. Their ability to work and 
learn together was a remarkable achievement. 

The operational strategy that grew into a pattern in this campaign called for 
ground forces, transported and protected by Allied naval and air forces, to seize bases 
from which the air forces and navy then neutralized other enemy bases in a continuous 
process of cooperation and forward leaps. To meet the enemy’s determination to 
fortify heavily their advance bases and inflict high casualties in any attacking force, 
the Allied commanders used their superior strength to seize positions that were 
strategically important but weakly defended. Out of this emerged the bypassing 
technique whereby the Allies steamed or flew past strong enemy garrisons which were 
neutralized by air and naval action and left to wither on the vine. In the end, contrary 
to the original anticipations of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and General MacArthur, this 
method sufficed to dispose of the great enemy base at Rabaul. 

Cartwheel provides information and references with which to study such 
variegated topics as Pacific strategy; intertheater relationships and coordination of 
widely separated forces and operations; problems and solutions in theater commands 
involving ground, air, and naval forces (U.S. and Allied); the relationship of such 
forces in a new pattern of warfare; and tactical problems and their solution, 
particularly in amphibious and jungle operations. The author also describes the close 
relationship of artillery, air, and naval support to infantry action wherever the records 
enabled him to do so and has been attentive to the relationship of logistics to progress 
in battle. 

Key topics: 

1. The execution of national strategy: a study in balancing ends against means 
(Chs. I, II, XII). 

2. Theater headquarters in action: studies in unified command (Chs. Ill, VI, X, XI, 
XII, XIV, XV). 

3. Intertheater cooperation and coordination (Chs. Ill, XII, XV). 

4. Planning and executing amphibious offensives (Chs. V, VI, XII, XIV, XV). 

5. Planning and executing a combined amphibious, overland, and airborne 
offensive (Ch. XI). 

6. The corps in the attack (Chs. VIII, IX).* 

7. The corps in defense, using interior lines (Ch. XVII). 

8. The division in a jungle (heavy forest) attack, with emphasis on difficulties (Ch. 
VII).* 

9. Operational techniques of bypassing strongpoints (Chs. X, XII, XV). 


These chapters also contain much material on operations of smaller units. 



50 


READER S GUIDE 


10. From reconnaissance in force to a divisional offensive (Ch. XVI). 

11. Effective delaying action (Chs. VI-X). 

12. Problems and solutions in jungle (heavy forest) warfare (Ch. IX). 

13. War neurosis and combat fatigue (Chs. VII, VIII). 

14. Japanese organization and strategy (Chs. IV, X, XI). 


SEIZURE OF THE GILBERTS AND MARSHALLS. By Philip A. Crowl and 
Edmund G. Love. (1955, 1985, 1989; 414 pages, 4 tables, 3 charts, 27 maps, 92 
illustrations, appendix, bibliographical note, glossaries, index, CMH Pub 5-6.) 

This volume tells the story of the initial thrust in the drive across the Central 
Pacific. The campaign opened in November 1943 under Admiral Nimitz’s direction, 
when the drive in the South and Southwest Pacific, directed by General MacArthur, 
was approaching Rabaul and was already on its way up the coast of New Guinea. 
Henceforth, a two-pronged offensive, coordinated by the Joint Chiefs of Staff, 
becomes the subject of the history of the war in the Pacific. 

The decision to launch a double offensive against Japan revived the time-honored 
concept of a drive from Hawaii into the western Pacific, which had been laid aside, 
together with the Orange plan’s focus on a Philippine offensive proved to be one of 
the momentous decisions in the war against Japan. A full account of the circumstances 
that lay behind this decision—the increase in American resources, the discussions at 
the level of the Joint and Combined Chiefs of Staff—appears in the volumes on Global 
Logistics and Strategy and Strategic Planning for Coalition Warfare. Its significance 
in Pacific strategy is further developed in the theater volume. Strategy and Command: 
The First Two Years. Here enough strategy is introduced to explain the two 
campaigns of the initial thrust under Admiral Nimitz. 

In this first move only two Army divisions were engaged, the 7th and 27th. Their 
operations on Makin, Eniwetok, and Kwajalein are described and analyzed in detail, 
but the story of the whole operation, in which Navy, Marines, and Army Air Forces 
played the leading roles, is retold to the extent necessary to illuminate the decisions 
of Army commanders and present the action of the 7th and 27th Infantry Divisions 
in a historical context. 

The operation was amphibious throughout because the islands seized were so 
small that naval forces provided essential gunfire and aerial support to the troops 
ashore until the end of the fighting. Once captured, these island groups (atolls) served 
as steppingstones in the form of advance air and naval bases from which future 
amphibious operations to the westward could be supported. 

The present volume is particularly valuable as a study of the role of ground forces 
in amphibious operations. The errors made were instructive, and the lessons learned 
as well as the positions seized were an important contribution to the success of the 
subsequent advances, described in other Pacific subseries volumes. Specifically, the 
account contains instructive examples of the coordination of naval gunfire, artillery, 
and air strikes and the problems of successfully orchestrating a wide variety of ground, 
air, and sea components toward a unified purpose. 


THE WAR IN THE PACIFIC 


51 


Key topics: 

1. Strategic background of the campaigns (Chs. I, XXI). 

2. Tactical planning for amphibious operations (Chs. II, III, XI). 

3. Troop training for amphibious operations (Chs. Ill, XII, XIX). 

4. Logistics of amphibious operations (Chs. Ill, XII). 

5. Command relationships in joint (amphibious) operations (Chs. II, XI, XIX). 

6. Amphibious landings against defended atolls (Chs. V, IX, XIV, XVIII, XIX). 

7. Small-unit actions in atoll warfare (Chs. V, VI, VII, VIII, IX, XIV, XV, XVI, 
XVII, XVIII, XIX). 

8. Naval gunfire support in amphibious operations (Chs. Ill, V, IX, X, XII, XIV, 
XV, XVI, XVII, XVIII, XIX, XXI). 

9. Employment of artillery in amphibious operations (Chs. V, VI, VII, VIII, IX, 

X, XIV, XV, XVI, XVII, XVIII, XIX). 

10. Air support in amphibious operations (Chs. Ill, V, IX, X, XII, XIV, XVIII, 
XIX, XX, XXI). 

11. Tank-infantry coordination in atoll operations (Chs. V, VI, VII, VIII, IX, X, 
XIV, XV, XVI, XVII, XVIII, XIX). 

12. Inapplicability of envelopment in small island tactics (Chs. V, VI, VII, VIII). 

13. Underwater demolition teams in landing operations (Chs. XII, XIV). 

14. Employment of amphibian vehicles in landing operations (Chs. Ill, V, IX, X, 

XI, XIV, XIX). 

15. Japanese island defenses (Chs. IV, XIII, XIX). 

16. Japanese counterattacks (Chs. VIII, IX, XVI, XIX). 

17. Japanese strategy operations (Chs. IV, XIII, XIX). 

18. Supply over the beaches in amphibious operations (Chs. VI, VII, IX, X, XIV, 
XVIII, XIX). 

CAMPAIGN IN THE MARIANAS. By Philip A. Crowl. (1960,1985, 1989; 505 
pages, 2 tables, 2 charts, 34 maps, 89 illustrations, bibliographical note, glossaries, 
index, CMH Pub 5-7.) 

Campaign in the Marianas tells the story of the capture of Saipan, Tinian, and 
Guam in the Central Pacific in mid-1944, together with the strategic and tactical 
planning that preceded the fighting, the supporting operations by air and sea forces, 
and the final exploitation of these islands as bases. The Marianas victory was one of 
the key actions in the Pacific; the U.S. invasion of the Marianas provoked the Japanese 
Fleet into a major and unsuccessful engagement, and the Marianas provided the bases 
from which the Army Air Forces later immolated the cities of Japan. 

All Central Pacific operations shared certain characteristics. They were joint 
amphibious operations conducted under the principle of unity of command over all 
air, sea, and ground forces. They had as objectives potential air and naval bases which 
were to be seized by ground troops who were carried forward and supported by 
warships and airplanes. Their accomplishments involved hard fighting and relatively 
heavy casualties. 

Because the number of Army troops in the Marianas was relatively small, much 


52 


READER'S GUIDE 


attention is devoted to small-unit actions, with the spotlight often falling on the rifle 
company. This account, like others in the Pacific subseries, also contains instructive 
examples of the coordination of naval gunfire, artillery, and air strikes, providing an 
exceptional opportunity to study the coordination of ground, air, and sea forces. 

The Marianas invasions again demonstrated the soundness of U.S. amphibious 
doctrine and tested the principle of unity of command. This volume sheds light on 
interservice command and cooperation, treating frankly some of the bitter interservice 
controversies between the U.S. Army and the Marine Corps which emerged at the 
local level. 

Key topics: 

1. Strategic background of the operations (Ch. I). 

2. Tactical planning for amphibious operations (Chs. Ill, XIII, XV). 

3. Troop training for amphibious operations (Chs. Ill, XV). 

4. Logistics of amphibious operations (Chs. Ill, VII, XV). 

5. Command relationships and interservice cooperation and controversy in joint 
operations (Chs. Ill, VII, X, XV). 

6. Amphibious landings on defended beaches (Chs. V, XVII). 

7. Small-unit actions in island warfare (Chs. V, VI, VIII, IX, XI, XII, XVII, XVIII, 
XIX, XX). 

8. Naval gunfire support in amphibious operations (Chs. V, VII, XIV, XV, 
XVII). 

9. Employment of artillery (Chs. VII, XII, XIII, XIV). 

10. Air support (Chs. V, VII, XIV, XV, XVII). 

11. Employment of amphibian vehicles in landing operations (Chs. V, XIII, XIV, 
XVII). 

12. Japanese defenses (Chs. IV, IX, XIII, XVI). 

13. Japanese counterattacks (Chs. VI, XII, XIV, XVII, XVIII). 

14. U.S. and Japanese fleet operations (Ch. VII). 

15. Movement of supplies over beaches in amphibious operations (Chs. V, VII, 
XIV, XVII). 

16. Army versus Marine Corps (Chs. IX, X). 


• • 

THE APPROACH TO THE PHILIPPINES. By Robert Ross Smith. (1953,1984; 
623 pages, 2 tables, 14 charts, 34 maps, 51 illustrations, bibliographical note, 
glossaries, index, CMH Pub 5-8.) 

The Approach to the Philippines covers a series of seven complex amphibious and 
ground operations along the northern coast of New Guinea during the period April- 
October 1944, in the Southwest Pacific Area, and the capture of the southern Palau 
Islands, September-November 1944, in the Central Pacific Area. These operations 
paved the way for the Allied invasion of the Philippines in the late fall of 1944. 

The Approach to the Philippines covers all activities—ground, air, and naval— 
necessary for adequate understanding of the Army ground narrative. The nature of 
combat usually involved a series of coordinated but separate operations by regimental 


THE WAR IN THE PACIFIC 


53 


combat teams. Divisions seldom fought as integral units during the approach to the 
Philippines. 

The operations involved all the mechanics of amphibious warfare in 1944— 
strategic and logistical planning, naval gunfire, carrier-based and land-based air 
support, infantry maneuver, small-unit actions, artillery support, tank actions, tactical 
supply ashore, medical problems, and civil affairs. The series of operations described 
was unique, and the problems of execution involved were vastly complicated by the 
fact that they were executed in rapid succession. While one was being planned, 
another was being launched, the height of combat was being reached in a third, and 
still others had entered a consolidation stage. 

Basically, The Approach to the Philippines becomes a story of joint operations 
from the highest to the lowest levels. Pertinent information about strategic planning 
by the Combined and Joint Chiefs of Staff is included to fit the tactical narrative into 
its proper perspective in the global war. At theater level the problems of joint 
planning, command, and organization for amphibious operations are covered in 
detail. At the tactical level may be found the story of a U.S. Army infantry company 
advancing along a coastal strand with the support of a U.S. Navy PT boat, while a 
fighter-bomber of the Royal Australian Air Force orbited overhead, ready to dive- 
bomb or strafe targets that the ground and naval units could not destroy. Or there is 
the story of a U.S. Navy destroyer and guns aboard amphibious craft manned by U.S. 
Army engineers that covered the withdrawal of an Army infantry battalion, while 
Army Air Forces pianes protected all three elements. Finally, the plans and actions 
of the enemy are covered, principally from Japanese records. 

Key topics: 

1. Strategic planning, Allied and Japanese (Chs. I, IV, XV, XVIII, XIX). 

2. Intelligence (Chs. II, VI, X, XII, XIII, XVII, XIX, XXII-XXIV). 

3. Tactical planning for amphibious operations (Chs. II, IX, XII). 

4. Logistical aspects of joint operations (Chs. II, III, V, XIX). 

5. Organization for joint operations (Chs. II, IX, XIX). 

6. Naval gunfire support (Chs. II, III, V, IX, XII, XIII, XVII-XXI). 

7. Amphibious landings (Chs. Ill, V, IX, XII, XVII, XVIII, XX, XXI). 

8. Assaults on defended islands (Chs. IX, XXI). 

9. Defense of, withdrawal from, and reestablishment of a river line (Chs. VI-VIII). 

10. Enveloping maneuvers in jungled terrain (Chs. Ill, VIII, XIII). 

11. Cave and tunnel warfare (Chs. XIV, XVI, XXII-XXIV). 

12. Air support, strategic (Chs. II, III, XVIII-XXI). 

13. Tank operations, problems involved (Chs. Ill, X, XI, XIII, XIV, XXI-XXIV, 
XXVI). 

14. Flamethrowers (Chs. XVI, XXII-XXIV). 

15. Defense against naval counterattack (Ch. XV). 

16. Army units under Marine Corps command (and vice versa) (Chs. XIX, XXI- 
XXIV). 

17. Supply problems in roadless, tropical terrain (Chs. Ill, V, XIII, XIV). 

18. Parachute operations (Ch. XVII). 


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READER'S GUIDE 


LEYTE: THE RETURN TO THE PHILIPPINES. By M. Hamlin Cannon. 
(1954, 1987; 420 pages, 5 tables, 3 charts, 23 maps, 70 illustrations, 2 appendixes, 
bibliographical note, glossary, index, CMH Pub 5-9.) 

In this narrative, the Sixth Army, commanded by Lt. Gen. Walter Krueger, 
emerges from the series of island-hopping, bypassing operations described in 
CARTWHEEL : The Reduction ofRahaul and in The Approach to the Philippines and 
engages a Japanese army on a land area of 2,785 square miles in a war of maneuver. 
The Sixth Army landed on Leyte on 20 October 1944 with the support of the fleets 
of the Pacific Ocean Areas and the Southwest Pacific Area, and these, in the famous 
Battle of Leyte Gulf on 24 October, blocked the desperate attempt of the Japanese 
Navy to destroy the expedition. U.S. Army troops were engaged in greater numbers 
than ever before assembled in the Pacific and were supported by naval and air forces 
of corresponding size. The Sixth Army had to overcome Japanese forces of greater 
magnitude than any previously encountered. On 25 December 1944, the island was 
declared secure, and General Mac Arthur returned in triumph to the Philippines. The 
breach in Japan’s line of communications with Southeast Asia that had been effected 
by U.S. submarines was now permanent and its last hope of victory destroyed. 

The Sixth Army accomplished its task on Leyte by executing a gigantic double 
envelopment coupled with an amphibious landing in the enemy’s rear area. Through¬ 
out the campaign Krueger's army was aided by strategic and tactical air cover and 
support from its old companion, Lt. Gen. George C. Kenney’s Fifth Air Force, and 
the Navy’s air arm, and enjoyed the cooperation of guerrilla forces. The roles of 
supporting forces and strategic prospects and plans affecting the campaign are 
described to the extent necessary to explain the Army's plans and performance. 

Leyte deals systematically with both American and Japanese operations. It gives 
an account of the plans and countermoves of the enemy, derived from Japanese 
sources. On the American side two corps and nine divisions were committed, and the 
study approaches operations from a corps and division level, but it amplifies the action 
of smaller units when those activities were particularly decisive or when available 
source material and space allowed the author to highlight the nature of the small-unit 
operations conducted. 

The Leyte Campaign lasted longer than originally planned. In setting forth the 
circumstances of this delay Leyte illustrates the interdependence of ground and air 
forces. Although General Krueger officially assumed responsibility for the delay, the 
difficulty in constructing adequate airfields was the immediate culprit. The airforces 
were, for a considerable period, unable to seal off the battlefield, and the Japanese 
were able to funnel in reinforcements because the air bases on Leyte were not ready 
on time and were unsatisfactory when ready—a condition blamed on the soil, drainage, 
and climate of Leyte. 

Key topics: 

1. Logistical planning for an island campaign (Ch. III). 

2. Relationships of ground, air, and naval forces in war (Chs. Ill, VI, XVI). 

3. A large-scale amphibious operation: planning (Ch. Ill) and execution (Chs. 
IV-V). 


THE WAR IN THE PACIFIC 


55 


4. Japanese command and strategy: a study in insufficiency, delay, and piecemeal 
commitment (Ch. IV, 3d section; Ch. VI; Ch. VII, 1st section; Ch. XVII; Ch. XXI, 
3d section; this topic should be studied in conjunction with the Luzon Campaign). 

5. Logistical problems in a tropical operation (Chs. XI, XVIII). 

6. Mountain warfare (Chs. XII, XIII). 

7. Exploiting an opportunity: an infantry division in amphibious envelopment 
(Ch. XVI). 

8. A field army’s summary of its tactical experience (Ch. XIV). 

9. Kamikaze attacks (see Index). 

10. Movement of supplies during the amphibious phase of an invasion (Ch. V, 4th 
section). 

11. Guerrillas as a source of intelligence and employed in conjunction with 
regular troops (see Index: “Guerrilla movement”). 


TRIUMPH IN THE PHILIPPINES. By Robert Ross Smith. (1963, 1984, 1991; 
756 pages, 9 tables, 45 maps, 87 illustrations, 8 appendixes, bibliographical note, 
glossaries, index, CMH Pub 5-10.) 

Triumph in the Philippines is the third volume in the subseries to deal with the 
reconquest of the Philippine Archipelago. The narrative traces the broad strategic 
vision that was employed in arriving at the decision to invade Luzon and bypass 
Formosa as a steppingstone to Okinawa. This study focuses on the Luzon Campaign 
with twenty-nine of its thirty-two chapters devoted to this subject. Although the 
Pacific is decidedly a joint theater, the reader will find only passing references to naval 
activities in support of this campaign and will have to look to other sources for a more 
complete picture. 

On 9 January 1945, the Sixth Army under the command of Lt. Gen. Walter 
Krueger commenced the largest United States Army operation in the Pacific. It 
entailed the use of more ground forces than did the operations in North Africa, Italy, 
or southern France. Unlike previous operations in the Pacific, the number of U.S. 
troops engaged, coupled with the ability to maneuver these forces in the central plains 
north of Manila, was more characteristic of European operations than any other 
Pacific campaign. By the time the campaign officially closed on 15 August 1945, over 
sixteen American divisions, or their equivalents, were committed to the liberation of 
the Philippines and the fulfillment of MacArthur's promise. 

Starting with the landings at Lingayen Gulf, this volume traces the advance of the 
U.S. troops through the Philippine central plains and the recapture of Clark Air Base 
and Manila. The volume ends with U.S. troops in northern Luzon and the southern 
Philippines. Unusual for the Pacific theater are the operations associated with the 
capture of a major urban center, which proved to be more costly and destructive than 
originally estimated. 

Accurate intelligence, always in short supply during hostilities, proved no less 
allusive in 1945. Throughout the campaign intelligence estimates between Mac Arthur 
and his field headquarters varied widely, affecting both strategic and tactical 


56 


READER'S GUIDE 


decisions. No where is this more evident than in the D-day estimate of Japanese 
strength on Luzon. Eight days after the invasion, the Sixth Army’s original estimate 
of 152,500 defenders had been raised to 234,500, which proved closer to the Japanese 
actual strength of some 250,000. Continued overly optimistic assessments of 
Japanese strength eventually took its toll in American casualties and on morale during 
the seven and one-half months of campaigning. 

When the war ended. General Yasmashita, the Japanese commander, was still 
conducting an active defense in northern Luzon with over 65,000 troops, estimated 
at the time by General Krueger to be no more then 23,000. Because of the surrender, 
large numbers of Japanese sources were available to the author, providing insight into 
the extensive Japanese dispositions, plans, and actions. The reader will find that due 
credit is given in this volume to the Japanese and their defense of the Philippines. 

Key topics: 

1. Assault of an urban center (Manila) (Chs. XIII-XVI). 

2. Intelligence estimates during the Philippine campaign (Chs. II, X, XVIII, 
XXIX). 

3. Use of armor (Chs. II, V, VI, IX, XI, XXIX). 

4. Use of guerrillas in support of U.S. troops (Chs. XVII, XXII, XXV, XXVI, 
XXX, XXXI). 

5. Use of tactical air to support ground operations (Chs. II, IV, XIII, XVII). 

6. Airborne operations in support of the campaign (Chs. XII, XVII, XXIX). 

7. Assault of heavily armed and fortified island positions (Ch. XIX). 

8. Amphibious landings in the Philippines (Chs. II, IV, VI, XVII, XXII, XXXI). 

OKINAWA: THE LAST BATTLE. By Roy E. Appleman, James M. B urns, Russell 
A. Gugeler, and John Stevens. (1948,1984, 1991; 529 pages, 10 tables, 9 charts, 54 
maps, 107 illustrations, 3 appendixes, bibliographical note, index, CMH Pub 5-11.) 

Okinawa: The Last Battle is a tactical history of the conquest of the Ryukyu 
Islands by forces under the command of the U.S. Tenth Army in the period 1 April 
to 30 June 1945. The volume takes its name from the principal island of the Ryukyu 
island group, where the critical and decisive battles of the campaign were fought. The 
Ryukyus Campaign followed the capture of Iwo Jima and was planned as the last of 
the Pacific island operations before the invasion of Japan itself. 

This work is an account of all United States forces engaged—Army, Navy, Air, 
and Marine. It also tells in considerable detail the story of the Japanese 32d Army, 
which was the Okinawa garrison, and of Japanese naval and air forces committed in 
the defense of the Ryukyus. The volume begins with the planning for this amphibious 
operation at the threshold of Japan, one of the largest of the Pacific war, and follows 
the operation through all succeeding phases to the death of the Japanese commanding 
general and his chief of staff. 

Of special interest was the tremendous volume of naval firepower employed by 
ships stationed offshore on the flanks of the American ground forces as the latter 
advanced across the island. The concentration of naval, air, and ground firepower 
employed by American forces in the Okinawa campaign was unparalleled for any 


THE WAR IN THE PACIFIC 


57 


comparable force, length of front, and duration of time in the history of warfare. 
Nevertheless, blunting this great firepower was the most extensive network of 
underground cave and tunnel defenses with tightly interlocking fields of fire encoun¬ 
tered in the history of warfare. The Japanese defensive system stretched from coast 
to coast and converged ring upon ring in depth, with Shuri, the ancient capital of the 
Ryukyus, at its center. 

The battle resolved itself into a myriad of small-unit actions against enemy cave 
and firing positions. This fight was conducted at close quarters by infantry-engineer 
and infantry-tank teams. Tank flamethrowers and engineer and infantry demolition 
teams, covered by small groups of riflemen, often formed the combat units that 
enabled Tenth Army slowly to destroy the many well-constructed defensive posi¬ 
tions, eliminate their dedicated defenders, and move gradually forward. The 
extensive attacks of Japanese Kamikaze pilots against the American naval forces 
supporting the ground forces are also treated as an important part of the operation. 

The ground combat story is told principally from regimental level. But as often 
as not, the treatment goes down to battalion level and frequently to company, platoon, 
and squad. It was the small unit that normally destroyed a particular enemy position 
holding the key to further advances. Often it was the individual soldier whose heroism 
was the decisive factor in such laborious activities, making it the theme of the 
immediate narrative. 

The XXIV Army Corps and the III Amphibious Corps, U.S. Fleet Marine Force, 
were the principal subordinate units of Tenth Army. In the two corps were the Army’s 
7th, 27th, 77th, and 96th Infantry Divisions and the 1 st and 6th Marine Divisions. In 
addition, the 2d Marine Division played a minor role in the preinvasion maneuvers, 
and its 18th Regiment was in limited action for a few days toward the end of the 
campaign. 

Key topics: 

1. The planning and conduct of a major amphibious operation (Chs. I, II). 

2. Naval participation in an amphibious operation (Chs. I—III). 

3. Establishment of beachheads on a hostile shore (Chs. Ill—VII). 

4. Assault on a strongly defended small island (Ie Shima) (Ch. VII). 

5. Attack and defense of a fortified line (Chs. V, VIII, IX, XI, XIII, XIV, XVII). 

6. Attack of a fortified area (Chs. VIII-XV). 

7. Small-unit tactics (Chs. V, VII, VIII, XI, XIII, XIV, XV, XVII). 

8. Cave and tunnel defense (Chs. VIII, IX, XI, XVII). 

9. Successful (enemy) withdrawal under attack (Ch. XV). 

10. Naval gunfire support of operations ashore (Ch. VIII). 

11. Employment of armor in broken terrain (Chs. V, VII, VIII, IX, XI, XIII, XIV, 
XVII). 

12. Artillery (Ch. VIII). 

13. Air support—Navy, Marine, and Army—much of it in close support of ground 
operations (see Index: “Air support”). 

14. Improvised use of weapons (Ch. X). 

15. Supply (Ch. XVI). 

16. Intelligence (Chs. IV, XV). 



58 


READER’S GUIDE 


17. Influence of weather (rain) (pp. 360-82). 

18. The relation of strategy and tactics (Ch. X). 

19. Japanese defense: 

a. Organization and weapons (Ch. IV). 

b. Counterattack (Ch. XII). 

c. Kamikaze attacks (Chs. Ill, IV). 

d. Hara-kiri (Ch. XVIII). 


The Mediterranean Theater 
of Operations 


















The Mediterranean Theater 
of Operations 


This four-volume subseries begins with American troops, part of the Allied 
Expeditionary Force, wading through the surf on the beaches of Northwest Africa on 
8 November 1942 and ends in the Italian Alps some 31 months later with the German 
surrender in May 1945. With supply lines always stretched to the breaking point, 
American and Allied soldiers faced a determined and resourceful enemy, harsh 
weather, inhospitable terrain, and indefinite goals in what many would later consider 
as little more than a sideshow to the “real” war in northern Europe. 

Nevertheless, as these volumes trace the slow but steady advance of the Allies 
from North Africa, through Sicily, and up the Italian boot, the role that these 
campaigns played in wearing down the Axis powers and contributing to the final 
victory becomes evident. The authors also devote considerable attention to the 
politico-military negotiations leading to the surrender of the Italian Army, where 
military men were required to double as diplomats. 


NORTHWEST AFRICA: SEIZING THE INITIATIVE IN THE WEST. By 

George F. Howe. (1957, 1985, 1991; 748 pages, 11 tables, 2 charts, 34 maps, 89 
illustrations, note on sources, glossaries, index, CMH Pub 6-1.) 

This volume is the history of the campaigns in World War II in which U.S. Army 
forces were first extensively engaged. It covers Operation TORCH, a massive 
amphibious, surprise assault in November 1942, after which the Allies speedily 
gained control of French Morocco and Algeria and obtained a toehold in Tunisia. It 
then describes the campaign in Tunisia which, beginning with stalemate in December 
1942, involved broadening fronts, a buildup on both sides, concentration in Tunisia 
of Allied and Axis forces previously engaged in western Egypt and Libya, seesawing 
combat, and finally constriction of all Axis forces within northeastern Tunisia, where 
they surrendered en masse on 13 May 1943. 

Other volumes of the United States Army in World War II also discuss TORCH. 
Its broader strategic connections are treated in Strategic Planning for Coalition 
Warfare: 1941-1942, and its effects on the logistical planning, resources, and 
capabilities of the Allies are taken up in Global Logistics and Strategy: 1940-1943. 
But it is here that the reader will find TORCH and the Tunisia Campaign described in 
their immediate political and military context. The author has drawn on abundant 




62 


READER'S GUIDE 


German sources to illuminate the strategy and tactics of the enemy and produce a two- 
sided picture. Although primarily concerned with the role of U.S. ground forces, the 
narrative relates their efforts to the operations of sea and air forces of the several 
nations in both coalitions and takes into account the plans and operations by which 
the Allies wrested air superiority from the Axis. 

The inexperienced ground forces of the United States were assigned holding or 
diversionary missions throughout the campaign in Tunisia. But they learned from 
experience, and in the final Allied drive in the spring of 1943 General Bradley’s II 
Corps broke out of the mountains and occupied Bizerte at the same time that the 
British took Tunis. 

Northwest Africa is a study of the trial-and-error process that characterized 
America’s first large-scale campaign. It has unique interest as the narrative of the first 
invasion in World War II of territory held by a friendly nation, in which one objective 
of the Allies was to revive the military resistance of the French to the Axis conquerors. 
The planning and execution of Torch were deeply conditioned by political consid¬ 
erations, and throughout both of the campaigns recounted in this volume the Allied 
command was ceaselessly confronted by difficult political issues along with those of 
a more strictly military nature. 

Key topics: 

1. Allied and Axis command structures compared (Chs. XIX, XXIV, XXV). 

2. Tactical planning of joint task forces (Ch. III). 

3. Problems of a successful command occupying colonial territory of a friendly 
nation (Chs. IX, XII, XIV). 

4. Large-scale amphibious surprise assault on lightly defended shores (Chs. VI, 
VII, VIII, XI, XIII). 

5. Offensive and defensive tactics along a broad front (Chs. XX-XXIV). 

6. Establishing an integrated coalition headquarters (Ch. III). 

7. Organized cooperation with the French on a clandestine basis (Chs. IV, X). 

8. Defense of a mountain pass (Ch. XXIII). 

9. Uncoordinated attacks and piecemeal commitment of forces (Chs. XXV- 
XXVII). 

10. Rearmament of the French (Chs. XIV, XVIII, XXV). 

SICILY AND THE SURRENDER OF ITALY. By Albert N.Garland and Howard 
McGaw Smyth. (1965, 1986, 1991; 609 pages, 17 maps, 113 illustrations, 4 
appendixes, bibliographical note, glossary, index, CMH Pub 6-2.) 

This volume describes the events surrounding the invasion of Sicily in July 1943 
and the subsequent surrender of the Italian government. The book is divided into three 
sections. The first part sets the strategic stage by describing the debate between 
American and British strategists over the course of Allied operations in the Mediter¬ 
ranean theater during 1943. In recounting how the Allies came to agree upon the 
invasion of Sicily at the Casablanca Conference, the authors illustrate the difficulties 
of crafting grand strategy in coalition warfare. Additional aspects of the decision to 
invade Sicily and the interplay of Mediterranean operations with the proposed cross- 


THE MEDITERRANEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS 


63 


Channel invasion of France can be found in Strategic Planningfor Coalition Warfare: 
1943-1944, Northwest Africa: Seizing the Initiative in the West , and the two volumes 
on Global Logistics and Strategy. The problems of coalition warfare were not limited 
to the Allied side, however, and the book relates the difficulties the Axis experienced 
in formulating strategic plans and in defining command relationships. Part One of 
Sicily and the Surrender of Italy concludes with an analysis of Allied plans for the 
invasion of Sicily, code-named Operation Husky, and Axis defensive measures. In 
doing so, the volume highlights the challenges Allied planners faced in designing 
what was at that time the largest amphibious landing of World War II. 

The second section of the present volume describes the invasion and conquest of 
Sicily—a rugged island bastion whose mountainous terrain greatly assisted the Axis 
defenders. The narrative fully examines the key Allied operational decisions of the 
campaign, including General Sir Harold Alexander’s decision to shift the direction of 
the U.S. Seventh Army’s advance, General George Patton’s sweep to Palermo, and 
Anglo-American rivalry in the race for Messina. Axis actions on the island are also 
well documented. The book focuses, however, on the operations of the American 
Seventh Army. The combat narrative is written largely at the division and regimental 
level but occasionally dips down to individual companies in key combat actions. The 
type of operations described in the book include airborne and amphibious assaults, 
establishment and defense of a beachhead, mountain combat, and German rear guard 
tactics. Part Two of the volume culminates in the final Allied drive to Messina and 
the evacuation of Axis forces to Italy. 

The invasion of Sicily sent shock waves through war-weary Italy and set in 
motion a movement that eventually toppled Mussolini from power. Part Three of 
Sicily and the Surrender of Italy returns to the strategic level, detailing the secret 
negotiations that eventually led to Italy’s capitulation to the Allies, as well as 
Germany ’ s countermeasures to seize control of the country. A discussion of the Allied 
decision to exploit the demise of fascism in Italy serves as a prologue for the next 
volume in The Mediterranean Theater of Operations subseries, Salerno to Cassino. 

Key topics: 

1. Strategic planning in coalition warfare, including the debate between the 
advocates of a “peripheral” strategy and a cross-Channel attack; the decision to 
invade Sicily; the Casablanca, Trident, and Quebec conferences; and the question 
of how to exploit the collapse of Italy (Chs. I, XIV, XXI). 

2. The erosion and ultimate dissolution of the Rome-Berlin Axis (Chs. II, XIV, 
XV,XXIV-XXIX). 

3. Planning and organizing a large-scale, joint and combined invasion against a 
defended coast (Operation Husky) (Chs. Ill, V). 

4. Negotiations for the surrender of Italy (Chs. XXII-XXIX). 

5. Evolution of invasion plans (Chs. Ill, V). 

6. The first major Allied airborne operation of World War II (Chs. VI, VII, IX, 
XXI). 

7. Allied amphibious operations (Chs. VI, VII, XVIII, XX, XXI). 

8. Modifying a campaign plan during the course of operations (Chs. XI, XII, 
XIII). 




64 


READER'S GUIDE 


9. Challenges posed to U.S. forces by mountain warfare and German defensive 
techniques (Chs. XVI, XVII, XVIII). 

10. The successful Axis evacuation of Sicily (Chs. XIX, XXI). 

11. Difficulties in strategic and tactical surface-air coordination (Chs. V, IX, 
XXI). 

12. Efforts to deceive the Axis about Allied invasion plans (Chs. Ill, IV). 

13. Patton and the slapping incident (Ch. XXI). 

SALERNO TO CASSINO. By Martin Blumenson. (1969, 1988; 491 pages, 16 
maps, 94 illustrations, 2 appendixes, bibliographical note, glossary, index, CMH Pub 
6-3.) 

In September 1943 a combined British and American amphibious force finally 
made the first Allied landing on the continent of Europe. After campaigns which 
began with amphibious assaults in both Africa and Sicily, the Allies were hoping that 
the invasion of Italy would be an equally successful endeavor. Although the Italian 
capitulation on the eve of the invasion filled the troops with confidence that enemy 
resistance would rapidly collapse, the Allied campaign in Italy was as tough as any 
fought in World War II; if anything, the Italian surrender hardened German resistance. 
Salerno to Cassino begins the story of the Allied effort to wrest control of Italy from 
its German occupiers, while Cassino to the Alps provides the conclusion. 

The confrontation in Italy was the first time Allied armies faced the German Army 
in a sustained campaign on the European mainland. During the first eight months 
covered by this volume the fighting was brutal and the situation on both sides was 
anything but optimistic. The opponents faced the same difficult terrain and bad 
weather and shared similar supply problems. The Germans, defending in the south, 
had their long supply lines subjected to the ever-increasing Allied air power, and the 
Allies had a chronic shortage of practically all types of shipping. 

Although the author focuses on the tactical activities of the Allies with special 
emphasis on the U.S. Fifth Army, he also provides the strategic framework within 
which those activities took place. The account includes the German point of view and 
sketches of air and naval activities pertinent to understanding the ground situation. 
Highlights of the volume include the problems faced by American forces in the initial 
landings at Salerno, the difficulties encountered while attempting to force a crossing 
of the flooded Rapido River, the controversial decision to bomb the historical 
Benedictine abbey on Monte Cassino, and the stalemate at the Anzio beachhead. 

Key topics: 

1. Amphibious assaults (Chs. Ill, IV, VI, VII, VIII, XX). 

2. River crossings (Chs. XII, XIII, XVIII, XIX). 

3. Assaulting fortified towns (Chs. X, XVI, XXI, XXV). 

4. Mountain warfare (Chs. XII, XIII). 

5. Small-unit tactics (Chs. X, XII, XIII, XVI, XVIII, XIX, XXI, XXIV). 

6. Use of air power (Chs. XIV, XXIII, XXIV). 

7. German command problems (Chs. V, XI, XIV, XX, XXIV). 

8. Strategic decision making in coalition warfare (Chs. I, X, XI, X3V, XVII, XXVI). 


THE MEDITERRANEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS 


65 


9. German defensive tactics (Chs. XIII, XV). 

10. Use of airborne troops (Ch. VIII). 

11. Coalition command considerations (Chs. IX, XXIV). 


CASSINOTOTHE ALPS. By Ernest F. Fisher, Jr. (1977, 1989; 584 pages, 27 
maps, 92 illustrations, appendix, bibliographical note, glossary, index, CMH Pub 6- 
4.) 


This volume continues the story of the Italian campaign with the Allied spring 
offensive in May 1944 which carried two Allied armies—the U.S. Fifth and the British 
Eighth—to Rome by 4 June and to the final German capitulation in May 1945. 
Represented in these armies were Americans, Belgians, Brazilians, British, Canadi¬ 
ans, Cypriots, French (including mountain troops from Algeria and Morocco), 
Palestinian Jews, East Indians, Italians, Nepalese, New Zealanders, Poles, South 
Africans, Syro-Lebanese, and Yugoslavians. The Fifth Army also included the U.S. 
Army’s only specialized mountain division, one of its two segregated all-black 
divisions, and a regimental combat team composed solely of Americans of Japanese 
descent. 

The campaign involved one ponderous attack after another against fortified 
positions: the Winter Line, the Gustav Line (including Monte Cassino), and the 
Gothic Line. It called for ingenuity in employing tanks and tank destroyers over 
terrain that severely restricted the use of mobile forces. In addition the Allied attackers 
constantly had to devise new methods to supply forces fighting through dangerous 
mountain terrain in central Italy or those fighting in flooded lowlands along the 
Adriatic coast. 

It was also a campaign replete with controversy, as might have been expected in 
a theater where the presence of many nationalities and two fairly equal partners 
imposed considerable strain on the process of coalition command. Among the most 
troublesome questions was the judgment of American commander, Lt.Gen. Mark 
Clark, to focus on the capture of Rome rather than conforming with the wishes of his 
British superior who was more concerned with trapping the retreating German forces. 
Other issues have proved equally controversial. Did Allied commanders conduct the 
pursuit north of Rome with sufficient vigor? Indeed, should the campaign have been 
pursued all the way to the Alps when the Allies might have halted at some readily 
defensible line and awaited the outcome of the decisive campaign in northwestern 
Europe? 

Just as the campaign began on a note of covert politico-military maneuvering to 
achieve the surrender of the Italian forces, so it ended in intrigue and secret 
negotiations for a separate surrender of the Germans in Italy. Nevertheless, the 570 
days which the Allies battled in Italy made it the longest sustained Allied campaign 
of World War II. The narrative ranges from detailed descriptions of company-level 
tactics up through division, corps, and army with considerable tactical detail at each 
level of command. 





66 


READER'S GUIDE 


Key topics: 

1. Grand strategy from both Allied and German points of view, including 
opposing command structures, and operational planning at army, corps, and division 
level, both Allied and German (Chs. I, II). 

2. Corps operations in mountainous terrain (Chs. Ill, IV). 

3. Planning for and breakout from a beachhead under enemy observation (Chs. VI, 
VII, VIII). 

4. Mountain warfare, including classic stratagem for breaking through mountain 
defenses, the use of trained mountain infantry in a flanking maneuver, and the 
penetration of mountain passes (Chs. X, XXIV, XXVI). 

5. Pursuit operations on a two-army front (Ch. XIII). 

6. Armor in rugged terrain (Chs. XIII, XIV). 

7. River crossings on a broad front (Ch. XXVIII). 

8. Surrender negotiations (Ch. XXX). 

9. Artillery support (see Index: “Artillery”). 

10. Operations in adverse conditions of weather and soil (mud, cold, rain, and 
floods) (see Index: “Floods; Mud; Terrain; Weather”). 





The European Theater 
of Operations 





The European 
Theater of Operations 


What and how three and one-half to four million Americans contributed to victory 
in the European Theater of Operations (ETO) during World War II is told in the ten 
volumes of the European subseries of the United States Army in World War II. These 
volumes are histories of units, commanders, headquarters, planning, decisions, 
strategy, tactics, and logistics. Because the end purpose of all activity in the theater 
was—as always in war—to close with the enemy and destroy him, a majority of the 
volumes deal with tactical operations. Yet armies without overall direction are little 
more than armed mobs: one volume thus tells the story of the Supreme Headquarters 
and the man who provided direction. Nor can a field army function without 
equipment, personnel replacements, supplies, or transport: two volumes tell this 
story. 

The limits of the individual tactical volumes in this subseries were fixed 
according to well-defined phases of the operations in the ETO, rather than by arbitrary 
dates. Though an individual volume may deal with one or more armies in a given area 
at a given time, it contains adequate background and corollary information for 
understanding the place of these particular operations in the larger context. The 
influence of theater strategy, logistics, and adjacent combat operations is integrated 
into each story. Thus, each volume is an entity that can be read separately with profit; 
at the same time each takes a natural place in the framework of the whole. 

Because the war in Europe was an Allied effort, the tactical operations of the 
British, Canadians, French, and other Western Allies have been sketched or summa¬ 
rized to place the American role in more realistic perspective. Every effort has also 
been made to avoid a nationalistic slant and to present fairly the critical problems of 
the grand alliance as revealed in planning and execution of strategy and operations. 
Nevertheless, it has not been possible, nor was it intended, to develop in full the 
narrative of Allied participation. Based largely on U.S. records, these volumes 
inevitably are written from an American point of view. 

As these books are focused on the American role, so also are they a history of 
United States ground operations rather than sea and air. The reader is constantly made 
aware, nonetheless, that the sister services were vital parts of a team. Where air and 
naval matters directly affected policy or operations in the theater, this material is 
retained. In particular, the campaign volumes develop the role of tactical air forces 
as they affected fighting on the ground. 

The story would be far less instructive without the corresponding picture from the 
enemy side. By study of interrogations and personal narratives of German officers, 
of captured documents, and of military records surrendered upon termination of 


70 


READER'S GUIDE 


hostilities, an accurate, interrelated account of enemy plans and operations has been 
developed to a degree not common in previous histories of this kind. 

In the campaign volumes, attention has been focused, of necessity, on combat 
formations actually in the line. Nevertheless, the vital combination of arms and 
services essential to victory has not been overlooked. The verity and necessity of this 
combination are emphasized by the volumes on the supreme command and logistics. 
The basic unit of the narrative in the campaign volumes varies, depending on the scope 
of the particular volume. Usually it is the division whose story is told in terms of 
regiments and battalions. 

The Supreme Command was designed as the capstone of the subseries. A history 
of Supreme Headquarters, it covers Allied Expeditionary Force (SHAEF) theater 
command and the Supreme Commander focusing on the nature of coalition command 
and the critical decisions made. Tactical operations at army group level are discussed, 
covering the entire war from D-day to V-E Day. In addition, more attention than in 
other volumes is given to political or nonoperational questions: civil affairs, press 
relations, military government, and so forth. 

Cross-Channel Attack introduces the subseries providing background for study 
of all the campaigns in the European Theater of Operations. The volume focuses on 
planning of OVERLORD; D-day, the Normandy invasion; and tactical operations to 
1 July 1944, when the Allies were assured of the success of the Overlord invasion, 
the fruition of plans and preparations reaching back as far as January 1942. 

Breakout and Pursuit cov ers the “Battle of the Hedgerows” leading to Operation 
Cobra and victory in Normandy. The Falaise-Argentan pocket and the Mortain 
counterattack are also included, as are operations in Brittany, the reduction of Brest, 
and liberation of Paris. The volume closes with the pursuit across northern France and 
Belgium by the U.S. First and Third Armies, ending in early September at the German 
frontier and the gates of Lorraine. 

The Lorraine Campaign chronicles the U.S. Third Army's struggle through the 
slow, arduous campaigning of the fall of 1944, from the Moselle to the German border 
and the West Wall in the Saar region. After the reduction of Metz, the story ends on 
18 December when the Third Army was diverted to move against the German winter 
counteroffensive in the Ardennes. 

The Siegfried Line Campaign parallels the effort in Lorraine, following the U.S. 
First and Ninth Armies during the fall of 1944 through similar costly fighting. The 
narrative takes the readers from first crossings of the German border on 11 September 
to the enemy’s counteroffensive, which ended the campaign abruptly inside Germany 
along the Roer River on 16 December. Highlighted are piercing the West Wall, the 
reduction of Aachen, the bitter fighting in the Huertgen Forest, and the operations of 
the First Allied Airborne Army in Operation Market-Garden in the Netherlands. 
American participation in opening Antwerp and clearing the Peel Marshes is also 
included. 

Riviera to the Rhine focuses on the Anvil/Dragoon amphibious assault in 
southern France on 15 August 1944 and thereafter covers the tactical operations of the 
6th Army Group (Seventh U.S. and First French Armies) until February 1945. The 
initial lodgment, the pursuit up the Rhone valley, and winter warfare in the Vosges 


71 


THE EUROPEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS 

{ are all highlighted, as are the German Nordwind offensive and the reduction of the 
Colmar Pocket. 

The Ardennes treats the German winter counteroffensive in Belgium and Luxem¬ 
bourg. The volume covers the operations of the U.S. First and Third Armies from the 
start on 16 December 1944 to 3 January 1945, when successful elimination of the 
“bulge” was assured. 

The Last Offensive chronicles the operations of all five U.S. armies from early 
1945 to V-E Day. Special attention is given to Operation Grenade and the sweep 
to the Rhine; the seizure of the Remagen bridge; the multiple crossings of the Rhine; 
and the employment of airborne troops in Operation Varsity. The story ends with 
the drive to the Elbe and juncture with the Soviets and, in the south, with the 
occupation of Germany’s Alpine Redoubt. 

Logistical Support of the Armies , 2 volumes, is the keystone rather than the 
capstone of the subseries. Relating the story of the campaigns and the decisions of 
higher commanders to the tyranny which logistics exercises on their conduct, it 
discusses tremendous materiel buildup in the United Kingdom preceding D-day, the 
logistical aspects of the invasion, and the effect of pursuit warfare on the Allied 
logistical structure. Volume I ends with the termination of pursuit in mid-September 
1944, while Volume II carries the story to V-E Day. 

THE SUPREME COMMAND. By Forrest C. Pogue. (1954,1989; 607 pages, 11 
tables, 9 charts, 16 maps, 64 illustrations, 7 appendixes, bibliographical note, 
glossaries, index, CMH Pub 7-1.) 

This book, while it contains the history of the Supreme Headquarters, Allied 
Expeditionary Force, is focused on the decisions of the Supreme Commander rather 
than the machinery of command. It is primarily a history of the decisions of General 
of the Army Dwight D. Eisenhower. 

To present these decisions in the round, it includes their background: the 
situations, military and political, that confronted the Supreme Commander; the 
discussions leading to his decisions; and the controversies—inter-Allied, interservice, 
personal, or purely military—which he had to resolve. It also includes an account of 
the reactions to his decisions and their effect on the course of the war. Since the author 
drew his information and impressions from interviews with more than a hundred of 

I the leading participants as well as from public and personal records, he has been able 
to assess and illustrate, in many cases, the weight of personality as a factor influencing 
Eisenhower’s final decisions and their effect. To give further perspective, the author 
has drawn on German records and interrogations to present the enemy’s views, plans, 
and positions, not always known to the Supreme Commander at the time. 

The period covered runs from December 1943 to 14 July 1945. The author reaches 
back (in Ch. II) to review the origins of SHAEF and to summarize (in Ch. V) the 
evolution of General Eisenhower’s strategic mission as embodied in the Overlord 
plan. 

The volume deals with the most complex combined (Allied) and joint (Army, 
Navy, Air) command that had appeared in the history of war, a headquarters founded 






72 


READER'S GUIDE 


on the principle of Allied “integration,” first applied by General Eisenhower in his 
organization of the Allied headquarters in the Mediterranean in 1942 (AFHQ). It was 
the culminating expression of the principle of unity of command which the Allies 
applied in World War II with varying degrees of success in all theaters of operations. 

Recognizing this, the author has included the facts and references necessary for 
a study not only of the antecedents, machinery, and activities of SH AEF (Chs. II—IV), 
but also of its relations, on the one hand, with the Combined Chiefs of Staff, the 
supreme instrument of the Allied governments for the military direction of the war, 
and, on the other, with the principal subordinate commands that directed operations 
in northwestern Europe on land and sea and in the air, from 6 June 1944 until 7 May 
1945. 

The Supreme Commander’s primary responsibility was military, and after 2 
September 1944 he assumed direct command of the operations of the ground forces 
of the Allies. In order to furnish the setting and trace the consequences of General 
Eisenhower’s military decisions, the book includes a full account of the campaigns 
of the Allied Expeditionary Force. The scale of this account is determined by the 
outlook of SHAEF. In general, it follows at army and army group level operations 
that are being recounted in greater detail in the campaign volumes of the United States 
Army in World War II and in the British and Canadian official histories. Since the 
present account is necessarily based chiefly on American records, it gives a more 
complete and authoritative history of American than of British operations. 

Although the Supreme Commander’s primary responsibility was military, the 
scope of his command repeatedly put him astride the traditional line between military 
and political considerations which modem war tends to obliterate. This line presented 
a problem in his relations with the British and French commanders, particularly with 
Field Marshal Sir Bernard L. Montgomery, and in the recommendations he had to 
make on relations with the Soviets in the last phase of the war. The volume also 
discusses in detail the difficulties of making politico-military decisions without 
timely, clear, or positive directives from higher authorities. 

Key topics: 

1. The planning and preparations for a vast inter-Allied surprise assault on a 
strongly defended coast and for pursuit and defeat of the enemy (Chs. V-VII, IX). (The 
plans and preparations here sketched are treated in more detail in Cross-Channel 
Attack.) 

2. Command decisions at the highest level of Allied authority below the 
Combined and Joint Chiefs of Staff (see Index: “Eisenhower, General of the Army 
Dwight D.; Strategy, Allied”). 

3. The interplay between the views and decisions of the Joint and Combined 
Chiefs of Staff and those of the Supreme Allied Commander in the field, a treatment 
which supplements that given in the strategy and logistics volumes of the United 
States Army in World War II (see Index: “Combined Chiefs of Staff; Joint Chiefs of 
Staff; and Eisenhower, General of the Army Dwight D.”). 

4. Unity of command, combined and joint (Chs. II, III, VII, XV; see Index: 
“Command”). 

5. The mechanism and operations of a headquarters based on the principles of 


THE EUROPEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS 


73 


command unity and integration (Ch. IV). 

6. The tendency to create the large and complex headquarters characteristic of 
American military organization in World War II (App. B). 

7. The interplay of military and political considerations in directing a command 
of this type (Chs. II, VI, VIII, XII, XIII, XVIII). 

8. The campaigns of 1944-45 in France, the Low Countries, and Germany, at 
army group and army level, including the plans and operations of the enemy (Chs. X- 
XII, XIV, XVI, XVII, XX-XXIV). In this aspect the present volume is the capstone 
for the histories of American operations and logistics in the European theater 
subseries of the United States Army in World War II and, in a more limited degree, 
for the history of British, Canadian, and French operations. 

9. Military government and the military administration of civil affairs, in military 
operations involving relations with a number of liberated countries and the occupa¬ 
tion of enemy territory on the basis of unconditional surrender (Chs. IV, VIII, XIII, 
XVIII, XIX). 

10. The controversies of General Eisenhower and Field Marshal Montgomery 
over strategy and command (see Index: “Eisenhower, General of the Army Dwight 
D., Montgomery’s relationship with”). 

11. The surprise achieved by the Germans when they attacked in the Ardennes 
on 16 December 1944, and the countermeasures by which General Eisenhower and 
his principal commanders contained the attack and regained the initiative (Ch. XX). 

12. The decision of General Eisenhower to halt his forces short of Berlin (Ch. 
XXIV). 

13. Psychological warfare (Chs. IV, XIX). 

14. Public relations of SHAEF (App. A). 

»• 

CROSS-CHANNEL ATTACK. By Gordon A. Harrison. (1951,1989; 519 pages, 
4 charts, 31 maps, 62 illustrations, 10 appendixes, bibliographical note, glossaries, 
index, CMH Pub 7^1.) 

* The cross-Channel attack launched on 6 June 1944 under the direction of Supreme 
Headquarters, Allied Expeditionary Force, is a subject that reappears in many 
volumes of the United States Army in World War II, since it involved the U.S. Army 
in its most important and largest single undertaking in the war. This basic account of 
the attack is focused on the Army’s participation in it, both as a plan and as an 
operation. It relates the project of the assault from its inception in 1942 to the strategic 
and logistical planning of the United States and the Allies (Chs. I—III) and to the plans, 
strength, and position of the enemy in 1944 (Chs. IV and VII); it describes the complex 
plans and preparations for the assault (Chs. V and VI), then narrates the fighting of 
the First Army to establish a lodgment up to 1 July 1944 (Chs. VIII, IX, and X). 

Much of the book (seven out of ten chapters) is devoted to planning and 
preparations since this volume is intended to serve as an introduction to all of the 
campaigns of the U.S. Army in the European Theater of Operations, as described in 
Chapters VIII-X and in the other nine volumes of the ETO subseries. 






74 


READER'S GUIDE 


Other volumes in the United States Army in World War II which devote con¬ 
siderable attention to the cross-Channel attack are Washington Command Post: The 
Operations Division ; The Supreme Command; Logistical Support of the Armies, 
Volume I; and the volumes on Strategic Planning for Coalition Warfare. Detailed 
narratives of the assault on 6 June and the subsequent campaign to 1 July can be found 
in Omaha Beachhead (1945), Utah Beach to Cherbourg (1947), and Small Unit 
Actions (1946), all in the Army’s American Forces in Action series. These narratives 
concentrate on the action of small units in combat. 

Cross-Channel Attack, like most other campaign volumes in the ETO subseries, 
focuses on the division as the basic fighting unit, although it often describes in 
considerable detail the experiences of battalions and companies on the fragmented 
fields of Normandy. So far as enemy records permit, it tells the story of German action 
at the same level. The Supreme Command, on the other hand, deals with D-day and 
the campaign to establish the Normandy beachhead and capture Cherbourg, from the 
point of view of General Eisenhower and Supreme Headquarters. 

Key topics: 

1. An amphibious assault on a defended shore by a coalition force (for particulars, 
see items that follow). 

2. The Bolero concept (Chs. I—III; see Index: “Bolero”). 

3. Early plans for the invasion of Europe from England: Sledgehammer (1942) 
and Roundup (1943) (Chs. I—III). 

4. The Anglo-American debate over a cross-Channel attack (Chs. I, III, V). 

5. General Morgan’s COSSAC and the evolution of the Overlord plan 
(Ch. II). 

6. The conversion of Overlord into a dated plan of operations (Ch. V; for a 
digest of the Overlord plan, see App. A: for the Supreme Commander’s directive, 
see App. B). 

7. The contribution of enemy weakness to Allied success (Chs. IV, VII, X). 

8. German command organization in the West (Ch. IV). 

9. Hitler and the German defense against the invasion of Normandy (see Index: 
“Hitler” and Apps. C and D). 

10. D-day on sea and land and in the air (Ch. VIII). 

11. Securing a beachhead and lodgment area (Chs. IX-X). 

Among the more specific topics on which this volume throws light are the 
following: 

12. Debate on the Anvil plan (Ch. V). 

13. Organized cooperation of the French Resistance with the Allies (see Index: 
“French Resistance”). 

14. Effect on strategy of shortage in a critical item (landing craft) (see Index: 
“Landing craft”). 

15. Effect of a scattered airdrop (Ch. VIII). 

16. Assault and capture of a fortified city (Cherbourg) (Ch. X). 

17. Use of mass air-bombing and artillery in this assault (Ch. X). 

18. Amphibious assault (see Index: “Amphibious tactics”): 

a. Naval fire support (see Index: “Naval fire support”). 


THE EUROPEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS 


75 


b. Air-bombing of coastal defenses (plans, pp. 194ff.; execution, Ch. VIII). 

c. Mass use of airborne forces to effect “vertical envelopment” of a 
beachhead (see Index: “Airborne assault”). 

d. Weather as a factor in planning an amphibious assault (see Index: 
“Weather”). 

e. Defense at the beach line versus use of mobile reserves in meeting an 
amphibious assault (Ch. VII). 

f. Use and effect of communications bombing in isolating the battle area 

(Chs.vm-x). 

g. Capabilities and limitations of underwater obstacles in defending a coast 
against assault (see Index: “Obstacles”). 

h. Use of swimming tanks in the assault of a defended beach (see Index: 
“Tanks, DD”). 


BREAKOUT AND PURSUIT. By Martin Blumenson. (1961, 1984, 1990; 748 
pages, 34 maps, 93 illustrations, 2 appendixes, glossary, bibliographical note, index, 
CMHPub7-5.) 

This volume follows the U.S. First and Third Armies from 1 July 1944 in the 

I Allied sweep across France to the German border, where The Siegfried Line 
Campaign takes up the story of the First Army (on 11 September) and The Lorraine 
Campaign that of the Third Army (on 1 September). The present volume includes the 
battle for Brest, which ended (on 18 September) when the front had been pushed 
across France and beyond. 

By 1 July the Allies had consolidated a firm beachhead which included Cherbourg 
and left no doubt that their armies had come to stay. The theme of the book is their 
subsequent efforts to acquire the “lodgment area” projected in the Overlord plan 
(see Cross-Channel Attack)-, the effort of the Germans to contain them; the break¬ 
through beginning on 25 July; its conversion into the breakout; the encirclement of 
German forces; and the ensuing sweep across France that outran all plans and 
anticipations. 

After an explanation of Allied and German situations (Part One), the battle 
narrative opens (Part T wo) with an examination of the hedgerow fighting—the costly 
and disheartening battles in the compartmentalized fields of Normandy which, 
combined with rain, mud, and inexperience, deprived the Americans of the advan¬ 
tages of numbers and mechanization in the offensive and assisted the Germans in their 

I stubborn defense. The volume gives special attention to the methods by which the 
Americans overcame the unexpected difficulties that beset them and became experi¬ 
enced veterans. 

The next phase of the narrative (Part Three) includes an account of the genesis and 
evolution of General Bradley’s breakthrough plan (Cobra) and follows in detail the 
measures and events that marked its conversion into a triumphant breakout into 
Brittany (described in Part Four). The author then (in Part Five) recounts the swiftly 
changing plans of the Allies as they seized the opportunity to break out toward the east; 





76 


READER'S GUIDE 


describes Hitler’ s counterattack toward Avranches and its defeat; follows (in Parts Six 
and Seven) the development of operations designed to encircle the Germans at 
Argentan and Falaise; and shows the fast-moving mobile warfare that characterized 
the drive to the Seine, the liberation of Paris, and the sweep to the borders of Germany. 
A tightening logistical tether (see Logistical Support of the Armies, Volume I) and the 
resuscitation of German resistance subsequently brought the First and Third Armies 
face to face with the bitter campaigning described in The Siegfried Line Campaign and 
The Lorraine Campaign. 

The battle narrative in this volume is, in general, pitched at corps level, but the 
focus of attention moves up and down the chain of command to illuminate decisions, 
both Allied and German, at critical moments of the campaign. The action is carefully 
related to the declared or postulated intentions of the responsible commanders, and 
success or failure is examined with reference to these and the opposing moves of the 
contestants. As in Cross-Channel Attack, the access of the author to abundant enemy 
sources has made it possible for him to represent fully the strength, intentions, and 
tactics of the enemy. 

Key topics: 

1. Multiple crossings of a defended river line on a division front (Chs. V, 
XXVIII). 

2. Assault of a fortified city (St. Malo, Ch. XXI; Brest, Ch. XXX). 

3. Problems of coalition warfare on tactical levels (Chs. X, XXV-XXVIII, XXIX, 
XXXII). 

4. Infantry: 

a. In compartmentalized hedgerow terrain (Chs. IV, V, VII, VIII, XIII, XV). 

b. In mobile warfare (Chs. XXVIII, XXXI, XXXII). 

c. In achieving a breakthrough (Chs. XII-XIV, XXVII). 

d. In defense (Chs. VII, VIII, XIV, XV). 

5. Armor: 

a. In hedgerow terrain (Ch. VI). 

b. In a breakthrough (Chs. XIII-XVI, XXVII-XXIX). 

c. In mobile warfare (Chs. XIX, XX, XXVIII, XXXI, XXXII). 

d. The armored division as an independent striking force (Chs. XIX, XX). 

6. Air support: 

a. Use of heavy (strategic) bombers in direct support of ground troops (Ch. XII). 

b. Tactical air support of ground operations (Chs. XII, XIII). 

7. Artillery in special situations: 

a. Under infantry attack (Chs. XV, XVI). 

b. Against fortress defenses (Chs. XXI, XXX). 

8. Commitment of inexperienced units and their errors (Chs. IV, V, VI, VIII, XV). 

9. Logistics of mobile warfare (Chs. XXVIII, XXX-XXXII). 

10. Effect of weather on tactical air (see Index: “Weather, effect on operations”). 

11. Traffic congestion and its effect on operations (Chs. XVI, XIX, XXVIII). 

12. Personnel replacements (Ch. XI). 

13. Use of task forces for unusual missions (Chs. XXI, XXX). 

14. Artillery support (see Index: “Artillery support”). 


THE EUROPEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS 


77 


15. German command problems (Chs. II, XVII, XXIV, XXVII). 

THE LORRAINE CAMPAIGN. By Hugh M. Cole. (1950, 1984; 657 pages, 50 
maps, 67 illustrations, bibliographical note, glossaries, index, CMH Pub 7-6.) 

This volume narrates the operations of the U.S. Third Army, commanded by Lt. 
Gen. George S. Patton, Jr., during the autumn of 1944 when that army was weakened 
by a lengthy pursuit and taut supply lines and faced an enemy who was rapidly 
recovering behind strong natural and artificial barriers. The iron hand which logistics 
sometimes imposes on tactical operations is in evidence throughout the narrative. 
Like other operational volumes dealing with the European theater, The Lorraine 
Campaign is organized into chapters at corps level and written primarily at division 
level. When action at a lower level was decisive or particularly illustrative, the 
narrative descends to regiment, battalion, company, and sometimes to platoon and 
squad level. Concurrent operations of Allied and of other U.S. armies are sketched 
in as necessary for a complete understanding of the Third Army’s story. Companion 
volumes recount in full the concurrent campaigns of the First and Ninth Armies ( The 
Siegfried Line Campaign) and of the Seventh Army ( Riviera to the Rhine). The story 
of command and decision at levels higher than army headquarters is told only where 
it had a direct bearing on the fighting in Lorraine, as, for example. General 
Eisenhower’s decision to halt the Third Army at the Meuse River at the start of 
September while he concentrated his strained resources in support of the First Army 
on another axis of advance (Ch. I). 

Despite General Patton’s long-lived optimism that he could gain the Rhine in one 
quick thrust, this volume indicates that even in early September the Germans were 
amassing strength sufficient to delay an overextended attacker for a long time behind 
such barriers as the flooded Moselle River; the historic forts ringing Metz, capital of 
Lorraine; and the Maginot and Siegfried Lines. This is the story of the slow, plodding 
operations that developed in the forests and among the rolling hills of Lorraine from 
early September until the Third Army on 18 December was turned north to assist the 
First Army in the Ardennes. 

A parallel account from the enemy side puts the American operations in proper 
perspective. The volume contains also an analytical description of the decisions of 
commanders at army, corps, and division levels that provided the framework of the 
tactical operations. Historical perspective is enhanced by frequent reference to earlier 
campaigning over this same terrain in 1870, 1914-18, and 1940. 

Key topics: 

1. Multiple crossings of a defended river line on an army front (Chs. II, III, VIII). 

2. Assault of a fortified city (Metz) (Chs. Ill, VI, VIII, IX). 

3. Assaults of strongly fortified lines—Maginot (Ch. X) and Siegfried (Ch. XIII)— 
in the latter case a line behind a river. 

4. Tank fighting: 

a. Against a counterattack in force (Ch. V). 

b. In an army offensive (Chs. VIII, X). 

c. In the assault of a fortified line (Ch. XII). 






78 


READER'S GUIDE 


(Note: b. and c. are examples of armor operating under adverse conditions of weather 
and soil trafficability.) 

5. Street fighting (Chs. VIII, IX). 

6. Air support of ground operations (see Index: “Air support”). 

7. German armor versus American (Ch. XIV; for German armor, see also “Panzer 
formations” in Index under “German units”). 

8. Armored task forces in limited objective attacks (see especially Ch. VII). 

9. Artillery support (see Index: “Artillery”). 

10. Engineer (see Index: “Bridges; Engineer”) and smoke generator units in 
support of river crossings. (For a more detailed account of the Moselle crossing at 
Amaville, see Three Battles: Arnaville, Altuzzo, and Schmidt.) 

11. Operations in adverse conditions of weather and soil (mud, cold, rain, and 
floods) (see Index: “Floods; Mud; Terrain; Weather”). 

12. Forest fighting (see Index: “Woods fighting”). 

13. Command problems: German (see Index: ‘‘OB WEST; Oberkommando der 
Wehrmacht [OKW]”). 

THE SIEGFRIED LINE CAMPAIGN. By Charles B. MacDonald. (1963,1984, 
1990; 670 pages, 19 maps, 81 illustrations, 4 appendixes, bibliographical note, 
glossaries, index, CMH Pub 7-7.) 

Optimism ran high when the first American patrols crossed the German frontier 
on 11 September 1944. With the enemy defeated in Normandy and pursued across 
northern France, Belgium, and Luxembourg, who could doubt that the war in Europe 
would soon be over? As events were to prove, and as this volume relates, buoyant 
spirits were premature. Aided by the concrete of the Siegfried Line (the so-called 
West Wall) and the forbidding terrain along the frontier, the Germans were able to 
stabilize the front against an Allied force weakened by the excesses of a long pursuit. 

The Siegfried Line Campaign is primarily a history of tactical operations in 
northwestern Europe from early September to mid-December 1944. It covers in detail 
the campaigns of the U.S. First and Ninth Armies and the First Allied Airborne Army 
and in sketchy outline the concurrent operations of the Second British and First 
Canadian Armies. Organized into chapters at the corps level, the story is told 
primarily at division level with numerous descents to regiment and battalion and even 
at times to lower units. Logistics and high-level planning (for example, the 
controversy over single thrust versus broad front strategy) are treated where they 
affected the campaign. Discussion of staff operations at army or corps level is limited 
to the development of tactical plans and operations. 

Although the First Army’s V and VII Corps both penetrated the Siegfried Line 
in September, ragtail German formations were able to blunt these spearheads. They 
did the same when the Allies sought to outflank the West Wall by crossing three major 
water barriers. The last of these, an assault on the lower Rhine, was a major coalition 
operation that combined the First Allied Airborne Army attack in southeastern 
Netherlands (Operation Market) with a ground attack (Operation Garden) by 


THE EUROPEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS 


79 


the Second British Army. From this point (late September) stiff in-fighting 
developed. Into November the Allies in Belgium, Germany, and the Netherlands 
conducted a series of small-scale operations to tidy the front in preparation for another 
major attempt to break through to the Rhine River and encircle the Ruhr industrial 
area. They focused on several specific missions: capture of Aachen, which sits astride 
the invasion route to the Ruhr; a drive on the Huertgen Forest southeast of Aachen to 
protect the forces before Aachen and to capture the dams on the upper Roer threatened 
by the retreating Germans; and reduction of the German bridgehead west of the Maas 
River in southeastern Netherlands. The Allies also sought to clear the seaward 
approaches to Antwerp, whose port remained the key to the logistical problems that 
had plagued them since the Normandy breakout. 

By mid-November Allied commanders could report considerable success in these 
missions. Greater strength had been added with the introduction of the Ninth Army 
into the line between the First Army and the British. The logistical situation was 
gradually improving, and in conjunction with the Third Army to the south, the First 
and Ninth Armies were preparing a new offensive designed to carry all three to the 
Rhine. 

Operation Queen was launched on 16 November, but by taking advantage of their 
strong artillery reserves, the inclement weather, and rough terrain, the Germans 
slowed the advance significantly. By mid-December some Allied troops had not 
traversed the seven miles to the intermediate objective of the Roer River, and the threat 
of the Roer Dams still existed. Coincidentally, the Germans used the time to mobilize 
behind the front an army group that would launch a counteroffensive in the Ardennes, 
bringing a halt to the Siegfried Line campaign. 

Key topics: 

1. Attack and defense of a fortified line (Chs. Ill, IV, VIII). 

2. Forest, city, and village fighting (Chs. IV, XIII, XIV, XV). 

3. American units under foreign command (Ch. IX). 

4. Armor operations (Chs. XI, XXII). 

5. Airborne operations (Chs. VI, VII, VIII). 

6. Air support of ground troops (Chs. IX, XII, XVII, XVIII, XIX). 

7. Success and failure in intelligence estimates (Chs. XI, XXIII). 

8. Fighting in inclement weather (Chs. II, III, VIII, XVII). 

9. Comparison of American and German tanks (Ch. III). 

10. Use of smoke, searchlights, flail and flamethrowing tanks, M-29 cargo 
carriers, tank track, and connectors (grousers) (Chs. XXIV, XXVI). 


THE ARDENNES: BATTLE OF THE BULGE. By HughM.Cole. (1965,1983; 
720 pages, 14 maps, 93 illustrations, 2 appendixes, bibliographical note, glossary, 
index, CMH Pub 7-8.) 

This volume deals with the great German offensive in the Ardennes and 
Schnee Eiffel during December 1944; the armored drive to isolate the Anglo-Saxon 
Allies by the seizure of Antwerp; and the defensive battles fought by units of the U.S. 




80 


READER'S GUIDE 


First, Third, and Ninth Annies reinforced by troops from the British 21 Army Group. 
The Ardennes: Battle of the Bulge opens with the detailed planning and preparations 
in the German headquarters (Chs. I, II, IV) and follows the development of the 
campaign from the surprise attack initiated on 16 December to the point where, in the 
first days of January 1945, the Allies regained the initiative and resumed the offensive 
to cross the Rhine. The discussion parallels that given in the latter sections of Riviera 
to the Rhine, covering the southern Allied Army Group, and sets the scene for The Last 
Offensive. 

The Ardennes , as in other volumes of this subseries, is structured on the division 
as the chief tactical and administrative unit. However, in the early hours and first days 
the battle mandates that the story be told at platoon and company level with cross 
reference to battalions, regimental combat teams, and armored combat commands. 
Command and control exercised by the army corps generally appears in the allocation 
of reserves rather than in tactical direction of the battle. Higher command efforts 
come into the narrative in a few specific instances, such as the gross failure of Allied 
intelligence; the geographic division of command between Montgomery and Bradley; 
the decisions to hold the American linch-pins on the Elsenbom ridge, St. Vith, and 
Bastogne, at the shoulders of the German salient; and the initial large-scale counter¬ 
attack mounted by the Third Army. (The subject of command is given close analysis 
in The Supreme Command.) 

The history of German command and troop operations is told in considerable 
detail. At the close of World War II, German officers were brought together so as to 
re-create the commands and general staffs of the major units taking part in the 
Ardennes campaign. As a result of this exercise in collective memory The Ardennes 
has an unmatched wealth of precise and parallel information on “the other side of the 
hill.” Much attention is also given to the role played by the Allied air forces— 
particularly the tactical air commands—and to the effect of weather on air-ground 
cooperation and on German logistics. 

The story begins with the irruption of enemy assault units in force against the 
green 99th and 106th Infantry Divisions and throughout the breadth of the thinly held 
VIII Corps front. The German breakthrough in the Schnee Eiffel is given detailed 
attention (Ch. VII). There follows the American attempt to narrow the rapidly 
evolving enemy salient by hard fighting at the shoulders of the bulge and by piecemeal 
tactical reinforcement at these critical points. The exploitation phase of the German 
offensive sees early armored successes interspersed with delays and halts inflicted by 
isolated and lone American combined arms detachments plus the vagaries of weather 
and terrain. This combination of adverse weather and difficult terrain is analyzed as 
it influenced German armored operations and conditioned the assault or the defense 
at barrier lines, roadblocks, and timbered patches (Chs. VI, XIV). The tactics of 
perimeter defense are shown in the record of battles at Bastogne (Ch. XIX) and those 
in the ring around St. Vith (Chs. XII, XVII). 

This volume concludes with the final desperate effort of German armor to reach 
and cross the Meuse River; with the stiffening American defense at the leading 
edge of the salient, coupled with the German failure to widen it at the shoulders; with 
the commencement of the enemy withdrawal; and with the counterattacks of the Third 


THE EUROPEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS 


81 


and First Armies. The final episodes of the Ardennes battle are recounted in The Last 
Offensive. 

Throughout this volume the strictures imposed on German maneuver by logistical 
failures are evident as are the superior American capability to reinforce and resupply 
the defense. (See also Logistical Support of the Armies, Volume IT). Nonetheless, the 
German campaign to keep rail and road transport functioning, here described in detail 
(Ch. XXV), merits close study. 

Key topics: 

1. Elementary tactics as shown in the many episodes of “the starkness of small 
unit combat” (Foreword; Chs. VI, VII, VIII, IX). 

2. Mobile operations under adverse conditions of weather, terrain, and short 
daylight hours (see Index: “Mud; Terrain”; Ch. XXV). 

3. Organization, tactics, control, and communications in delaying actions (see 
Index; “Mud; Tactical control; Communications, problems”). 

4. Failure of Allied intelligence (Ch. IV). 

5. Ad hoc air resupply (see Index: “Air supply”). 

6. The employment of combat engineers (see Index: “Bridges; Bridging 
operations; Engineers; Barrier lines; Obstacles”; Ch. XIV). 

7. Tactical surprise by maneuver, through operations at night and in the fog, and 
by the use of smoke and deceptive lighting (see Index: “Surprise, tactical”). 

8. Examples of a double envelopment (Ch. VII). 

9. Detailed description of the employment of “the combined arms” (see Index: 
“Task Forces; Teams”). 

10. Tanks; antitank combat (see Index: “Tanks; Armor; Mechanized forces”). 

11. Tactical air support (see Index: “Aircraft, fighter-bombers”; Ch. XXV). 


RIVIERA TO THE RHINE. By Jeffrey J. Clarke and Robert Ross Smith. (1992; 
approx. 620 pages, 1 table, 35 maps, 77 illustrations, bibliographical note, index, 
CMH Pub 7-10.) 

On 15 August 1944, the Allies finally launched Operation Anvil, code name for 
the amphibious assault against southern France. Long in the planning as an adjunct 
to the main effort in Normandy, the effort represented a victory for U.S. strategists 
seeking to focus Allied military strength against western Germany. The successful 
assault was rapidly followed up by the seizure of the important French Mediterranean 
ports of Marseille and Toulon and a concerted drive north up the Rhone River valley 
to Lyon. There the Franco-American Riviera Force, consisting of the U.S. Seventh 
and the French First Armies, was combined into the Sixth Army Group under Lt. Gen. 
Jacob Devers as the southern element of General Eisenhower’s northern European 
command. 

From September to November 1944 the Sixth Army Group struggled east through 
the Vosges mountains and through the Saveme and Belfort gaps to the north and 
south, respectively. Inclement weather, rugged terrain, and stiffening defense by the 
German Nineteenth Army slowed the army group’s progress toward the German 








82 


READER’S GUIDE 


border to a crawl. During the well-planned November offensive, however, Devers’ 
forces surged through the German lines, rapidly advancing to the Rhine and 
destroying the cohesiveness of the defenders in the process. But rather than move 
directly into Germany, Eisenhower ordered the bulk of the Seventh Army to strike 
northward in support of the U.S. Third Army’s less successful offensive in Lorraine. 
In the process the Army group lost its momentum, allowing the Germans to retain a 
foothold in the Vosges around the city of Colmar and in the north to conduct a more 
orderly withdrawal to the German border. 

In December the German Ardennes offensive forced the Sixth Army Group to halt 
all offensive operations and extend its front northward. As a result, the German High 
Command launched Operation NORDWIND in January 1945, a major armor and 
infantry offensive against the extended Seventh Army. A stubborn but flexible 
defense finally wore the German forces thin, but both sides suffered heavily from the 
bitterly cold weather. In February, Devers’ forces resumed the offensive, eliminating 
the Colmar Pocket and the Nineteenth Army and setting the stage for the final drive 
into Germany. 

This volume links the U.S. Army’s Mediterranean and northern European 
operational series together and provides an important counterpoint for those works 
dealing with Eisenhower’s two more well-known army groups commanded by Field 
Marshal Sir Bernard Montgomery and Lt. Gen. Omar Bradley. The opening section 
(Chs. I—XI) treats the Southern France Campaign as part of the Mediterranean Theater 
of Operations; a middle section (Chs. XII-XXIV) covers the fighting in the Vosges; 
and the final section (Chs. XXV -XXX) takes up the battle of Alsace. Joint operations 
are highlighted (Chs. II—VII) in the treatment of Anvil, perhaps the most successful 
amphibious operation during the war, while the problems of combined (multina¬ 
tional) command are discussed throughout. A full account of German plans, 
organization, and actions is included for perspective, and the operations of the First 
French Army, a major component of the American army group, are also treated in 
detail. 

Key topics: 

1. Combined and joint politico-military war planning (Chs. I, II, XII. 
XXVII). 

2. Partisan guerrillas (Chs. Ill, VI). 

3. Amphibious loading for logistics (Ch. III). 

4. Air-sea-land interdiction operations (Chs. V, VI). 

5. Armored warfare (Chs. IX, XXI, XXIII, XXVIII, XXIX). 

6. Civil affairs (Ch. XI). 

7. Close air support (Ch. XI). 

8. River crossings (Chs. XIII, XXII). 

9. Morale and discipline (Ch. XXX). 

10. Special and airborne operations (Chs. Ill, VI). 

11. Winter and mountain fighting (Chs. XV, XXIX). 

12. Intelligence derived from communications intercepts and human sources— 
Ultra and the OSS (Ch. V). 


THE EUROPEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS 


83 


THE LAST OFFENSIVE. By Charles B. MacDonald. (1973, 1984, 1990; 532 
pages, 27 maps, 92 illustrations, 2 appendixes, bibliographical note, glossaries, index, 
CMHPub7-9.) 

The Last Offensive is the final volume of the United States Army in World War 
II subseries The European Theater of Operations. It recounts the closing battles in 
which the American forces cross the Rhine River—historic boundary of German 
power—and, with the Western Allies, defeat and destroy Hitler’s armies deployed on 
the Western Front. The story in these final chapters follows those told in The 
Ardennes: Battle of the Bulge and in Riviera to the Rhine', the time frame extends from 
the first days of January 1945 to V-E Day (8 May). 

The massive force under Eisenhower’s command had attained the battle experi¬ 
ence of a professional army; it was superior to the Wehrmacht both in manpower and 
materiel. On V-E Day Eisenhower would have under his command more than four 
and a half million troops: 91 divisions (61 of which were American), 6 tactical air 
commands, and 2 strategic air forces. In this volume appears a reckoning of the total 
Allied effort in the West and the human cost accumulated between D-day and V-E 
Day. In these months a total of 5,412,219 Allied troops had entered the European 
Theater of Operations, along with 970,044 vehicles and 18,292,310 tons of supplies. 
Allied casualties for the period of combat are estimated at a figure of 766,294. 
American losses are carried as 586,628, of which 135,576 are listed as dead (Ch. XX). 

The Last Offensive is a dramatic piece of military history and offers a varied array 
of ground force operations. In these final months the U.S. First, Third, Seventh, and 
Ninth Armies, reinforced by British and Canadian armies on the northern flank and 
a French army on the southern wing, erased the two German salients west of the Rhine 
(in the Ardennes and around Colmar) and drove to the long-time Allied objective, the 
Rhine. The powerful assaults to force the Rhine crossings were accompanied by a 
prime example of “luck” in battle, the seizure of the Remagen bridge, and abetted by 
a spectacular air-drop assault Operation Varsity —the last of the war (Ch. XIV). 
Beyond the Rhine there follows a series of the most massive sweeps and wide turning 
movements in World War II, engulfing and destroying the German armies in the Ruhr 
Pocket (Ch. XVI). The end of the Wehrmacht comes when the Americans join the 
Soviets at the Elbe (Ch. XVII) while the Seventh U.S. Army races to and crosses the 
Danube (Ch. XVIII). 

The gigantic size of these operations requires that this volume be structured with 
emphasis on the army but with close scrutiny of important engagements by divisional 
organizations. The detailed story of the Allied command in this period will be found 
in The Supreme Command. Nonetheless, The Last Offensive analyzes the controversy 
between Eisenhower and Montgomery over the competing strategies based on an 
advance all along the front versus a narrow, deep, and powerful thrust on a very 
constricted front. Here it is shown that the Allied front expands from 450 miles in 
January to twice that width at V-E Day. Also, explanation is given herein regarding 
Eisenhower’s decision to halt the advance of the Western Allies on the Leipzig axis, 
short of Berlin. Despite the great Allied superiority on the ground and in the air, the 
war weary and weakened German troops fought stubbornly in these last battles; The 


84 


READER’S GUIDE 


Last Offensive gives credit to these veteran troops fighting in a hopeless and 
meaningless cause. 

Key topics: 

1. The “grand tactics” of wide encircling sweeps and deep penetrations (see 
Index: “Armor, exploitation”). 

2. Tactical and technical problems in the crossing of defended rivers and the 
consolidation of bridgeheads (see Index: “Rhine; Roer; Moselle”; Ch. XI). 

3. Effect of varied combinations of terrain and weather on mechanical operations 
(see Index: “Tanks; Weather”). 

4. Management of logistics in support of rapid movement by large forces (see also 
Logistical Support of the Armies, Volume II). 

5. Organization for combat at the division level during operations of deep 
penetration and rapid exploitation (see Index: “Divisions by number"). 

6. Tactics and techniques of bridging and assault craft operations at large water 
barriers (see Index: “LVTs; DUKWs; Boats, assault; Bridges; Engineers, bridging 
operations”). 

7. Tactical use of smoke, fog, and weather (see Index: “Smoke; Weather”). 

8. Airborne transport and vertical encirclement by air (Ch. XIV). 

9. Air interdiction in support of Allied ground operations (Ch. XIV). 


LOGISTICAL SUPPORT OF THE ARMIES, VOLUME I: MAY 1941-SEP- 
TEMBER1944. By Roland G. Ruppenthal. (1953,1985,1989; 616pages, 11 tables, 
6 charts, 18 maps, 58 illustrations, bibliographical note, glossaries, index, CMH Pub 7-2.) 

This is the history of the logistical operations in the European Theater of 
Operations in support of the U.S. Army forces in that theater from 1941 to mid- 
September 1944. The operations described and analyzed were under the direction of 
the headquarters of the combined command known as ETOUSA Communications 
Zone. But the focus throughout is on the relation of logistics to combat and the 
influence of adequate or inadequate logistical support on the planning and conduct of 
tactical operations by the field armies. Two major problems of supply that had 
important effects on these operations are treated in detail: the shortage of gasoline in 
the period of pursuit and the developing shortage of field artillery ammunition, which 
became critical in the fall of 1944. 

Beginning with the arrival of the first small group of U.S. Army “Special 
Observers” in May 1941, the narrative tells the story of the successive predecessor 
commands in the United Kingdom and the activation of the European theater (Ch. I). 
It covers in turn the buildup of forces and logistical planning in preparation for the 
cross-Channel invasion (Chs. II—VII) and then logistical operations on the Continent 
through the end of the phase of rapid pursuit in September (Chs. X-XIV). 

The major theme is logistical difficulties, first those of building up U.S. forces for 
the invasion of France, then of supporting them in combat. For the period of 
continental operations emphasis centers largely on problems of movement: cross- 
Channel shipping, the development of beach and port discharge facilities, and long- 


THE EUROPEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS 


85 


distance transportation by rail and truck, including the famed Red Ball Express (Ch. 
XIV). 

Full attention is given to theater organization and command, particularly to the 
relation of logistics to other functions, and to the influence of personalities on the 
evolution of command and on administrative effectiveness (Chs. I, II, III, V, and XI). 

Key topics: 

1 . Logistical (Overlord) planning for large-scale offensive operations (Chs. IV, 
VII). 

2. Theater command and territorial organization, particularly where an Allied 
command is superimposed on a national command and a single commander holds 
positions in both (Chs. I—III, V, XI). 

3. The influence of logistical considerations on tactical planning and decisions 
(Ch. XII). 

4. Manpower problems, particularly with respect to economical use of personnel, 
and the variance of casualty experience of the first months from estimated replace¬ 
ment needs (Ch. XI). 

5. The logistics of rapid movement and its effects on future capabilities (Chs. XII- 
XIV). 

6. Competition between global and theater strategy and priorities in the buildup 
of supplies and forces (Chs. II, III, VI). 

7. Supply over beaches in support of a large invasion force, including the use of 
artificial ports (Chs. VII, X, XI). 

8. The influence of personalities in the development of theater organization and 
in the relationship of theater commands to each other (see especially Ch. XI). 

9. The results of inadequate planning and staff coordination in meeting urgent 
calls for logistical support (Ch. XIII). 

10. The development of a theater troop basis (Ch. III). 

11. Early struggles attending the establishment of a U.S. Army command in the 
United Kingdom (Ch. I). 

12. Relations with an ally which serves as “host” nation and on which U.S. forces 
must depend heavily for locally procured services and supplies (Chs. II, III, VI). 

13. Effect of the North African invasion on the preparation of a force in the United 
Kingdom for the cross-Channel invasion (Ch. II). 

14. Training and rehearsing for the cross-Channel attack (Ch. VIII). 

LOGISTICAL SUPPORT OF THE ARMIES, VOLUME II: SEPTEMBER 
1944-MAY 1945. By Roland G. Ruppenthal. (1959,1983; 540 pages, 14 tables, 11 
maps, 65 illustrations, bibliographical note, glossaries, index, CMH Pub 7-3.) 

This volume moves from mid-September 1944 to the end of hostilities in May 
1945 along the same general lines as Volume I described above. As in that volume 
the focus is on the influence of adequate or inadequate logistical support on the 
planning and conduct of tactical operations by the field armies, in short, the relation 
of logistics to combat. Considerable space is given to theater organization and command 
because of the influence that these exerted on effective administration and support. 





86 


READER'S GUIDE 


The main divisions of the volume correspond to the two broad phases of tactical 
operations in the period covered: the period of relatively static warfare from mid- 
September 1944 to early February 1945 (Chs. I—XII) and the period of offensives 
leading to the surrender of Germany in May 1945 (Chs. XIII-XVIII). The main topics 
examined within each period are organization and command (Chs. II, XII, XIII, XIX); 
port discharge (Chs. Ill, IV, XIV); transportation (Chs. V, VI, XIV, XV); supply (Chs. 
VII, IX, XVI); and manpower (Chs. XI, XVII). 

The reader will find (in Ch. I) an assessment of the logistical basis of General 
Eisenhower’s decision in September 1944 against concentration of his resources on 
a single thrust to the Rhine. In Chapter XII the author surveys, in the light of the 
Somervell-Lutes “tour of inspection” in December 1944-January 1945, the structure 
of theater administration and supply as tested by the logistical problems encountered 
between D-day and the Ardennes offensive of mid-December. The book concludes 
with general observations on the logistical experience of the European theater (Ch. 
XIX). 

Logistical Support of the Armies serves not only as an integral part of the ETO 
subseries of the United States Army in World War II, but also as a complement and 
capstone to the portions of The Technical Services subseries that deal with the 
wartime activities of each of these services in ETO. 

Key topics: 

1. Theater command and organization, with particular reference to the relation¬ 
ship of tactical and administrative commands (Chs. II, XII, XIII, XIX). 

2. The influence of logistical support on the tempo of tactical operations (Chs. 
I, XIX). 

3. Manpower problems, particularly with respect to economy in the use of 
personnel and in adjustment to unexpected requirements (Chs. XI, XVII). 

4. Theater relations with the zone of interior on such matters as organizational 
policy, supply requirements, and manpower management (Chs. IV, IX, X, XI, XII, 
XIV, XVII). 

5. The use of indigenous resources, both human and material, in the theater of 
operations (Ch. XVIII). 

6. The response to emergencies in military operations, notably with respect to the 
logistic problems imposed by a reverse (Ch. VI). 

7. The accommodation to unusual demands, notably with respect to transporta¬ 
tion, as in the case of the final offensive (Ch. XV). 

8. The control and allocation of supplies in critically short supply (Chs. IX, XVI). 

9. The effect of changes in the scheduled buildup of forces on the prospect of 
logistic support (Ch. X). 

10. The influence of personalities on the working of a theater command and 
organizational structure (Chs. XII, XIX). 


The Middle East Theater 








The Middle East Theater 


This one-volume subseries tells the little-known story of the U.S. Army’s mission 
of assisting the British in their efforts to deliver supplies to the Soviet Union through 
the Persian Corridor. Initially, the primary American missions involved base 
construction and the operation of assembly points. This assignment was soon 
enlarged to include the transportation of materiel to its new ally over a 400-mile 
network of primitive railroads and highways. From 1942 until the last Soviet soldier 
left the corridor in 1946, Iran was the silent and little-consulted partner in its destiny, 
as Britain and the United States struggled to keep the Soviet Union supplied with the 
military essentials of war. The story thus chronicles the beginnings of an involvement 
that would culminate in Operation Desert Storm almost fifty years later. 

THE PERSIAN CORRIDOR AND AID TO RUSSIA. By T. H. Vail Motter. 
(1952, 1985, 1989; 545 pages, 15 tables, 12 charts, 5 maps, 3 illustrations, glossary, 
index, CMH Pub 8-1.) 

The “Persian Corridor” was one of two major theaters of operations in World 
War II whose paramount mission was supply. (The other was China-Burma-India.) 
The Army’s mission in Iran was to accelerate the delivery of lend-lease supplies to the 
Soviet Union. The operation involved delicate and complex relations with three 
cooperating powers; Great Britain, the USSR, and Iran. These relations transcended 
logistics and military administration and entered the diplomatic sphere. This volume 
was written with an awareness of this difficult experiment in cooperation. It is 
therefore a book for the statesman, administrator, and historian, as well as for officers 
responsible for future planning in the realm of logistics and strategy. More 
specifically the book is indispensable to the study of Anglo-American aid to the USSR 
after the breakdown of the Murmansk route in 1942 and the Anglo-American invasion 
of North Africa. 

The point of view is that of top command responsibility; but all aspects of 
planning and operations from Washington and London to the “theater” itself are 
illustrated. The study emphasizes organization and administration as well as 
achievement in terms of operational results. 

In addition to the task of moving supplies through Iran to the Soviet Union, the 
Army was charged with responsibility for rendering economic and military aid to Iran. 
This was accomplished by advisory missions to the Iranian Army and the Iranian 
Gendarmerie (Chs. IX and XXI) and by the broadening of the commander ’ s directive 
to include economic assistance to Iran (Ch. XX). The volume therefore describes 
precedents of importance to readers interested in the development of the policy of 






90 


READER’S GUIDE 


containment and military assistance, adopted by the United States in the post-World 
War II era. 

Key topics: 

1. The use of civilian contractors versus militarization of a large effort of supply 
in wartime (Chs. II, III, V, VI, VII). 

2. Procurement of materiel and manpower (American and Iranian) for construc¬ 
tion and the operation of theater services (Chs. VI, VII, XII). 

3. Changes in organization required by changes in Allied policy and theater 
mission (Ch. XI). 

4. The problem of overlapping functions and the rivalries between military and 
civilian (Army, State Department, War Shipping Administration, and Lend-Lease 
Administration) agencies in an overseas area (Chs. II, IV, XVI-XVIII). 

5. Anglo-American command relationships in Iran (Ch. V). 

6. Difficulties of cooperation with the USSR (Ch. I). 

7. Rivalries between Great Britain and the Soviet Union in Iran and their 
continued efforts to exclude each other from their respective zones (Chs. VII, XIII). 

8. Anglo-American-Soviet negotiations directed toward legalization of the status 
of American troops in Iran and the relation of these to the Declaration of the Three 
Powers regarding Iran, 1 December 1943 (Ch. XX). 

9. Anglo-American-Iranian negotiations regarding payment for the use of the 
Iranian State Railway (Ch. XVII). 

10. Diplomatic background of the U.S. advisory missions to Iran (Chs. V, XX). 

11. Employment of native labor (see Index: “Native employees”). 

12. Security arrangements in tribal areas (Chs. II, III, V, XI). 

13. Planning for expansion of the oil pipeline net in Iran and of the refinery 
capacity at Bahrein and Abadan (Ch. XV). 

14. The role of the Army Service Forces in organizing and administering a supply 
theater (Ch. X). 

15. Command relations between the Middle East Theater and the administration 
of the Army’s responsibilities in Iran (see Index: “U.S. Army Forces in the Middle 
East (USAFIME); U.S. Military Iranian Mission; U.S. Military North African 
Mission; Persian Gulf Command; Maxwell, Maj. Gen. Russell L.; Connolly, Maj. 
Gen. Donald H.; and Shingler, Brig. Gen. Don G.”). 

16. Shipping—the conflict between global and local interests (see Index: “Ship¬ 
ping”). 

17. The tendency to overexpand staff and organize beyond the demands of 
function (Chs. II, III, V, XI). 


The China-Burma-India 
Theater 






The China-Burma-India 
Theater 


The first two volumes of this subseries focus on Lt. Gen. Joseph W. Stilwell, and 
the third treats his successor, Lt. Gen. Albert C. Wedemeyer, in the China-Burma- 
India (CBI) Theater. All three works, particularly the account of General Wedemeyer’s 
diplomatic measures, focus on the problems of a major military assistance effort. 
They not only record the most ambitious U.S.-directed aid program completed during 
World War II, but also are of general interest for the light they shed on the background 
of our postwar relations with China. They provide a basis for instructive comparisons 
of General Wedemeyer’s and General Stilwell’s exercise of diplomatic and command 
functions, and of their programs and measures for the reform and training of Chinese 
forces. Finally, these volumes describe the most extensive experiment during World 
War II in the sustained supply of ground forces by air. 


STILWELL’S MISSION TO CHINA. By Charles F. Romanus and Riley 
Sunderland. (1953, 1984; 441 pages, 6 tables, 8 charts, 7 maps, 19 illustrations, 
bibliographical note, glossary, index, CMH Pub 9-1.) 

This volume and the next in the subseries are centered on the performance of Lt. 
Gen. Joseph W. Stilwell. Stilwell was chief of staff to Chiang Kai-shek, in Chiang’s 
capacity of commander in chief of China considered as an Allied theater; he 
administered U.S. lend-lease aid to China; and he commanded the CBI Theater. 
Chiang put him in charge of his force (three Chinese armies) in Burma during the ill- 
fated campaign of 1942, and this campaign, insofar as it involved his authority, is 
therefore described. 

The War Department’s concept of aid to China was to help the Chinese to help 
themselves, by military advice, technical assistance, air support, and supplies needed 
to fill the gaps in the Chinese armory. General Stilwell was also directed to reopen 
a ground line of communications with China. The present volume describes General 
Stilwell ’ s efforts to effect a working relationship with the Generalissimo, to formulate 
a program acceptable both to the host government and his own superiors, and to 
organize a logistical base for American assistance and air operations. It presents, in 
global perspective, the difficulties that were created when the President, overruling 
the War Department, decided that China-based and air-supplied air power was a better 
investment of available American resources than rebuilding the Chinese Army. 

As theater commander General Stilwell had under his authority a far-flung 







94 


READER'S GUIDE 


Services of Supply (SOS), the Fourteenth Air Force (Maj. Gen. Claire L. Chennault’s) 
in China, and the Tenth Air Force in India. This and the succeeding volumes 
supplementthe more detailed account of these air forces to be found in The Army Air 
Forces in World War II. They are here presented in relation to the missions and 
activities of the theater and General Stil well’s other responsibilities. This work and 
its successors also contain a general account of the extraordinary problems and 
activities of the SOS, plus air supply over the famous “Hump.” Their presentation 
here can be supplemented by consulting the Air Forces history cited and the histories 
of the technical services in the United States Army in World War II. The present 
volume covers the period September 1939-September 1943. (The key topics are 
included in the list that follows the description of the third volume of this subseries.) 


STILWELL’S COMMAND PROBLEMS. By Charles F. Romanus and Riley 
Sunderland. (1955, 1985; 518 pages, 8 charts, 5 tables, 21 maps, 45 illustrations, 
bibliographical note, glossary, index, CMH Pub 9-2.) 

This volume continues the CBI story from October 1943 through General 
Stilwell’s dramatic recall in October 1944. In 1943 the President, overruling the War 
Department, decided that China-based air power, supplied by air over “the Hump,” 
was a better investment in aid to China than General Stil well ’ s plans for strengthening, 
reforming, and employing Chiang Kai-shek’s armies, and General Stilwell therefore 
decided in October 1943 to concentrate his efforts on the India-Burma scene. But his 
“command problems,” already extraordinary, were further complicated by his 
designation as Deputy Commander, under Lord Mountbatten, of the Southeast Asia 
Command, and by his responsibility for providing logistical support to the B-29s 
based in China, as well as to General Chennault’s Fourteenth Air Force. During this 
period the project that was most demanding on General Stilwell’s attention finally got 
under way—the campaign in north Burma to gain control of Myitkyina, to clear the 
route for the Ledo Road and a pipeline to China, and, in cooperation with the British, 
to unhinge the Japanese defense of Burma. 

The authors sketch the strategic background of this controversial campaign and 
the Anglo-American debates over it at the Cairo Conference and later. (See also 
Strategic Planning for Coalition Warfare: 1943-1944.) They then describe the 
campaign in north Burma, with detailed attention to the exhausting thrust of Merrill’s 
Marauders, the major U.S. ground combat force in the theater, to Myitkyina and the 
long struggle to occupy and hold the town. 

In the summer of 1944 Stilwell had once more to give his full attention to China, 
when the Japanese launched a large-scale offensive and Chiang’s forces were unable 
to prevent them from overrunning Chennault’s airfields. Stilwell’s proposal, 
supported by the President, was to put Stilwell in command of the threatened Chinese 
forces, including some Chinese Communist units that were fighting the Japanese. 
When Chiang refused to accept Stilwell, the President recalled him. The volume 
concludes with a well-documented account of these dramatic events, including the 
mission of General Hurley to China as the President’s representative. 


THE CHINA-BURMA-INDIA THEATER 


95 


TIME RUNS OUT IN CBI. By Charles F. Romanus and Riley Sunderland. (1959, 
1985; 428 pages, 7 tables, 5 charts, 15 maps, 76 illustrations, bibliographical note, 
glossary, index, CMH Pub 9-3.) 

Time Runs Out in CBI is a history of the two U.S. theaters into which China- 
Burma-India was split when Stilwell was recalled, one (India-Burma) commanded by 
Lt. Gen. Daniel I. Sultan, the other (China) by Lt. Gen. Albert C. Wedemeyer. This 
volume continues and completes the story of the north Burma campaign, recounts the 
operations of Chinese-American forces along the Salween River, and describes the 
logistical efforts of General Sultan’s command. 

The story of General Wedemeyer’s attempt to provide the Chinese with an army 
that they could support and also powerful enough to guarantee China’s freedom is the 
core of this book. By the end of July 1945 Wedemeyer had given thirteen weeks’ 
training to eleven Chinese Nationalist divisions and had started twenty-two more on 
their first training cycle. To this total, five battle-tested divisions fresh from the 
Burma campaign could be added. The beginnings of a Chinese Services of Supply 
to support these 30-odd divisions were at hand, and service schools were functioning. 
But before this force could advance to the coast, Japan surrendered and time ran out 
in CBI. The book ends with the Japanese surrender. 

Key topics: 

1. Strategy (planning) (I, Chs. II, V, VII-X; II, Chs. I, II, X; III, Part II). 

2. Lend-lease (see indexes of all three volumes). 

3. Conducting a theater SOS (I, Chs. II, VI; II, Chs. Ill, VII; III, Ch. I, and Part 

II). 

4. U.S. policy toward China (I, Chs. I, II, V, IX; II, Ch. II, and Part III; III, Chs. 
I, XI). 

5. Line of communications problems (I, Chs. VI, VIII, IX; II, Ch. VII; III, Chs. 
VII, X, XI). 

6. Command problems—Allied (I, Chs. Ill, IV, VIII, IX; II, Chs. II, V, VIII, X, 
XII; III, Chs. I, V, VIII). 

7. Volunteer airforces (I, Chs. I-IV). 

8. Local procurement by an SOS directed to “live off the land” (I, Ch. VI; II, Ch. 
VII; III, Part II). 

9. Organizing a theater of operations (I, Chs. II, III, V, X; III, Ch. I). 

10. Stilwell’s programs for China (I, Chs. Ill, IV, V, VII, IX, X; II, Chs. I, II). 

11. Wedemeyer’s programs for China (III, Part II). 

12. Stilwell’s exercise of command and diplomatic functions (I and II); 
Wedemeyer’s exercise (III, Part II). 

13. Campaigning in Burma (see indexes of all three volumes). 

14. Chinese training centers (see indexes of all three volumes). 

15. Engineering problems (see index entries in all three volumes on roads, 
airfields, and construction). 

16. Airlift to China and supply by air in Burma (see indexes to all three volumes). 

17. Strategic air operations based on India and China (see indexes to all three 
volumes). 










The Technical Services 









The Technical Services 


There was a time when armies marched on their stomachs, and providing 
sufficient quantities of food to the troops was the significant factor in determining the 
success of a campaign. World War II, however, would forever alter this simplistic 
view of support as the global needs to supply and sustain a modem army in the field 
became a reality. Technical support in World War II matured as in no other conflict, 
tying the home front to the battlefront. The introduction of new technologies, such 
as radar, the proximity fuse, and the atomic bomb were only a small part of the 
revolution needed to sustain a modem army at war. 

The Technical Services subseries, composed of twenty-four volumes, covers 
seven technical services representing the combat and combat services branches that 
the Army still recognizes in 1992. In all cases these volumes were written by the 
technical historian most knowledgeable on the subject in conjunction with the 
assistance of the Center of Military History. 

THE CHEMICAL WARFARE SERVICE 

When the United States entered World War I, the Army had to prepare to use and 
cope with poisonous gas, which the Germans had introduced as a weapon on the 
battlefield of Ypres in April 1915. At first the responsibilities of gas warfare were 
divided among the Medical Department, the Ordnance Department, the Corps of 
Engineers, and the Signal Corps, with help from the Bureau of Mines, which 
conducted research on poisonous gases. In June 1918 the War Department created a 
Chemical Warfare Service to take over these responsibilities and in 1920 gave it the 
additional mission of developing other devices of chemical warfare such as smoke, 
incendiaries, and the 4.2-inch mortor. The three volumes on this service cover this 
little-known subject from an administrative and tactical standpoint during World War II. 

THE CORPS OF ENGINEERS 

The four volumes in this technical service record the vast engineering efforts 
undertaken by the United States to cope with a global war. Besides the huge task of 
constructing a continental base for war, the Corps of Engineers had to prepare 
equipment, troops, and units for action around the globe. Though designated a 
“technical service,” the engineers had more troops in Army Ground Forces units than 
in those of the Army Service Forces. Additionally the engineers had to provide battle 
equipment, men, and units trained to use it, as well as to make the Army’s maps; 
construct roads, bridges, and railroads; reconstruct wrecked seaports; and build 



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airfields and military bases in every theater of operations in which American forces 
were engaged. 

THE MEDICAL DEPARTMENT 

The organized services of the Medical Department in war come closer to home 
to the public than those of the other great supporting services of the Army. The 
medical and surgical treatment that The Surgeon General and his department gave 
their millions of patients during World War II, a matter of vital instructive interest to 
the medical profession, is discussed in the detailed clinical volumes published by the 
Historical Unit of The Surgeon General’s Office. The three medical volumes in the 
United States Army in World War II series instead focus on the care given to those 
patients along the medical evacuation chain of command, paying additional attention 
to such areas as preventive medicine, sanitation, combat psychiatry, organization, and 
the integration of medical plans into the larger operational and tactical activities in 
every operational theater. 

THE ORDNANCE DEPARTMENT 

The three volumes on this technical service cover the interaction of the Ordnance 
Department with the Army in the field. As such it complements the combat 
operational histories while providing the reader with an appreciation of the difficulties 
of supplying a fighting force. 

The first volume on this service is a history of the phases of activity which precede 
procurement, distribution, and maintenance of fighting equipment, namely, organi¬ 
zation, training, research, and development. It is, in short, an analysis of the factors 
that largely determined the quality of weapons supplied to the Army in World War 
II. Volume II on the Ordnance Department covers the problems of quantity: 
production, distribution, and upkeep; and Volume III, operations overseas. 

THE QUARTERMASTER CORPS 

Four volumes in The Technical Services subseries trace the Quartermaster Corps 
as it copes with meeting the staggering and unanticipated demands of a global war. 
Lack of funding in the interwar years ill prepared the corps for the role it would play 
in the war against Germany and Japan. As final testimony to its success, a Senate 
committee would report after the war that “the supply of our armed forces in Europe 
has been a remarkable achievement, involving the delivery across the ocean and over 
beaches and through demolished ports, and then over a war-tom countryside into 
France and Germany of tonnages far in excess of anything previously within the 
conception of man.” 

THE SIGNAL CORPS 

The first two of the three volumes on this service present the history of the corps 


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101 


chronologically, rather than topically, unlike the others in The Technical Services 
subseries. The story is carried forward on a broad front. Although the focus is 
generally the Office of the Chief Signal Officer in Washington, it follows units of the 
corps into action on the multiplying overseas theaters of operations. The third volume 
focuses on the revolution in communications that took place during this period. 

THE TRANSPORTATION CORPS 

The three volumes on this corps deal with the youngest of the seven technical 
services. Created in July 1942 to control the factors that go into the movement of men 
and munitions. Army transportation would in time become one of the controlling 
factors in the prosecution of the war. The first two volumes deal with transportation 
in the United States, with the last volume covering overseas land and water operations. 


THE CHEMICAL WARFARE SERVICE: ORGANIZING FOR WAR. By Leo 

P. Brophy and George J. B. Fisher. (1959, 1989; 498 pages, 16 tables, 11 charts, 1 
map, 32 illustrations, bibliographical note, glossary, index, CMH Pub 10-1.) 

The first part of this volume is an administrative history of the Chemical Warfare 
Service from its inception until 1946, when it became the Chemical Corps. This part 
covers the experience of World War I, at home and with the American Expeditionary 
Forces; the trying years from 1920 to 1939 when the new service had to contend with 
military parsimony and the public opprobrium attached to gas warfare; and then with 
the greatly expanded functions of the service in World War II. 

In that war the Chemical Warfare Service was responsible for training not only 
its own service troops and specialized combat units for chemical mortar, smoke 
generator, and chemical air operations, but also for training the whole Army to cope 
with chemical warfare, and, incidentally, for training civilians for defense against the 
use of chemicals in case of enemy attack. These training missions are the subject of 
Part II. 

In 1942 the Chief of the Chemical Warfare Service was designated to head a 
United States Chemical Warfare Committee, which worked out with the British 
combined policies and plans for chemical warfare—an experience described in Part I, 
Chapter IV. 

Key topics: 

1. The status of gas warfare in international treaties (Ch. II). 

2. Plans for use of poisonous gases in World War II (Chs. II—IV). 

3. Industrial manpower problems in producing chemical weapons (Ch. VII). 

4. Civilian-defense preparations and training (Ch. X). 

5. Antigas training of Army air and ground units (Ch. XVI). 

6. American preparations for gas warfare in World War I (Ch. I). 

7. Problems in wartime expansion of production, testing, and storage facilities 
(Ch. VI). 

8. Problems in the production of training and technical manuals (Ch. XI). 



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9. The training of officer candidates (Ch. XV). 

THE CHEMICAL WARFARE SERVICE: FROM LABORATORY TO FIELD. 

By LeoP. Brophy, WyndhamD. Miles, and RexmondC. Cochrane. (1959,1980;498 
pages, 11 tables, 2 charts, 49 illustrations, 2 appendixes, bibliographical note, 
glossary, index, CMH Pub 10-2.) 

This volume describes and evaluates the record ofthe Chemical Warfare Service 
in developing, procuring, and issuing munitions of chemical warfare to the Army and 
Navy from the inception of the service in World War I. In that war, with the assistance 
of the Bureau of Mines and the National Research Council, the service developed 
toxic agents and protective equipment and procured them on a large scale, though few 
of the items produced had reached the troops of the American Expeditionary Forces 
when the war ended (Chapter I). In the postwar years of military economy the service 
could keep only a nucleus of scientists at work on the discovery and designing of its 
munitions (Chapter II). In the field of procurement and distribution its activity, except 
for planning, was limited almost entirely to gas masks, manufactured at Edgewood 
Arsenal and stored at the Edgewood depot (Chapter X). 

Increased appropriations and rapid expansion came with the semimobilization of 
1939-41, when the service built new laboratories, plants, arsenals, proving grounds, 
and depots, and began to stock chemical munitions (Chapter X), while its scientists 
watched the development of munitions that were proving useful in Europe (Chapter II). 

The service expanded very rapidly after the United States entered the war. At the 
heart of its special activities was an augmented technical staff, which worked with the 
assistance of the Office of Scientific Research and Development and other civilian 
agencies. The mission of the service was extended to include the offensive and 
defensive aspects of biological warfare, long under discussion, and now recognized 
as a serious threat (Chapter V). In pursuing its original mission the service searched 
for more effective war gases (Chapter III), and better means of physical protection 
against toxic agents (Chapter IV). It also improved the 4.2-inch chemical mortar into 
an extremely effective high explosive as well as chemical weapon (Chapter VI); 
developed what were essentially new weapons: flamethrowers (Chapter VII) and 
incendiaries (Chapter VIII); and provided better screening smokes and smoke 
generators (Chapter IX). 

The service manufactured these munitions in its arsenals and plants and also 
procured great quantities of them through contracts with private industry. In addition 
to problems of procurement that it shared with the other technical services, the 
Chemical Warfare Service had its own, such as those incident to the relatively modest 
size of its contracts, and the fact that most of its items had not reached an advanced 
stage of development (Chapters XIII-XV). The service also had peculiar problems of 
storage and distribution (Chapter XVI) and unusual difficulties in the field of property 
disposal (Chapter XVII) because of the nature of its munitions. 

Key topics: 

1. Cooperation between military and civilian scientists in chemical and biological 
research (Chs. II, V). 


THE TECHNICAL SERVICES 


103 


2. Preparations for biological warfare (Ch. V). 

3. The role of American industry in the procurement of chemical munitions (Chs. 
XIV, XV). 

4. Research and development procedures (Chs. II, III). 

5. Procurement planning (Ch. X). 

6. The pricing program (Ch. XII). 

7. Renegotiation of war contracts (Ch. XII). 

8. The Supply Control System (Ch. XIII). 

9. Chemical storage and disposal (Chs. XVI, XVII). 

THE CHEMICAL WARFARE SERVICE: CHEMICALS IN COMBAT. By 

Brooks E. Kleber and Dale Birdsell. (1966,1984,1990; 697 pages, 8 charts, 7 maps, 
46 illustrations, bibliographical note, glossaries, index, CMH Pub 10-3.) 

Chemicals in Combat , the last of three volumes devoted to the Chemical Warfare 
Service (CWS) in World War II, covers the overseas story of that technical service. 
The first six chapters concern planning, organization, and logistics in the major 
theaters of operations. Most of the remaining chapters describe the development and 
combat employment of smoke munitions and generators, the 4.2-inch mortar, the 
portable and mechanized flamethrowers, and incendiary munitions. 

An underlying theme pervades this overseas story. The Chemical Warfare 
Service was organized in World War I as the vehicle for employ ing gas munitions and 
for defending against the use of gas by the enemy. It was thought that these would 
be the principal roles in World War II. But because gas was not used in the Second 
World War, the CWS men and units had to justify their presence by undertaking non¬ 
gas warfare missions. If there were two key words to describe the overseas CWS 
experience, they would be “preparedness” for the possible introduction of gas 
warfare and “improvisation” for the effective use of units in the absence of gas 
warfare. On top of all this the chemical service was operating in an Army that was 
not enamored with the traditional chemical mission, let alone the possibility of 
improvisation. 

Had the Allied nations known with certainty what the intentions of the Axis 
powers were with regard to the use of gas warfare, the U.S. investment in time and 
materiel might not have been undertaken. On the other hand, had the Allies been any 
less prepared, one only can guess at what effect that a persistent agent might have had 
on the D-day landing or at Anzio. If the Japanese had not believed their home land 
vulnerable to gas they might have used mustard agents against the amphibious forces 
that slowly penetrated their vast defensive perimeter. The author argues that the U.S. 
preparedness from gas warfare was worth the effort. Like a “fleet in being,” it 
countered a threat that could have been decisive to the Allied cause if gone 
unchallenged. 

Key topics: 

1. Origins of the Chemical Warfare Service in World War I (Ch. I). 

2. Development of the Chemical Warfare Service between the two world wars 
(Chs. I, VII, XI). 


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3. Adapting a theater CWS staff to a nonchemical environment (Ch. II). 

4. Evolution of a theater CWS supply system (Ch. IV). 

5. Impact of a dynamic chemical officer in the Central Pacific theater (Chs. V, VI). 

6. Diversity of duties of the CWS service units (Ch. VII). 

7. The development of the large area smoke installation to conceal ports, 
beachheads, and river crossings (Chs. VIII, XI). 

8. War Department bureaucracy and recalcitrance as illustrated in its reluctance 
to authorize the 4.2-inch mortar to fire high explosives (Ch. XI). 

9. Demand for portable and mechanized flamethrowers in the Pacific theaters 
(Chs. XIV, XV). 

10. Why gas was not used during World War II (Ch. XVIII). 

THE CORPS OF ENGINEERS: TROOPS AND EQUIPMENT. By Blanche D. 
Coll, JeanE. Keith, and HerbertH. Rosenthal. ( 1958,1974; 622 pages, 15 tables, 11 
charts, 76 illustrations, bibliographical note, glossary, index, CMH Pub 10^4.) 

This volume is a history of the measures taken in the United States to cope with 
the variety of demands placed on the Corps ofEngineers during World War II. In the 
period before Pearl Harbor the dominant theme was preparation to fight in the war of 
movement that air and armor had introduced on the battlefields of Europe. In the 
midst of rapid expansion, the corps adopted and procured such equipment as 
emergency bridges designed to sustain heavier loads, airplane landing mats to take the 
place of paved runways, powerful earth-moving machinery, and delicate mapping 
instruments to exploit the possibilities of aerial photography. Such equipment, while 
greatly increasing the engineer capabilities, also increased its dependence on skilled 
manpower and on a steady supply of industrial products. 

Once the United States was in the war the corps faced global demands not only 
for more troops, but also for new types of units to reconstruct damaged ports, operate 
small craft in amphibious landings, distribute petroleum products, manufacture and 
distribute parts of complicated machinery, and many other incidental tasks. The 
unexpected lack of skills and aptitudes of a great number of the recruits, the need for 
hasty training, and the priorities of procurement assigned to weapons immediately 
required gravely handicapped the engineers. The second part of this work, devoted 
to 1942, gives an account of the basic decisions and measures adopted to meet the 
stresses and changes of incessant crises and explores the debate between the corps and 
the higher echelons of the War Department in the search for realistic compromises. 

After 1942, training programs, lengthened and improved in the light of experi¬ 
ence, began to produce a more versatile engineer-soldier. Thereafter, too, procure¬ 
ment could be based on more accurately estimated long-range requirements and freer 
access to materials. The last part of the volume is devoted to this period in which the 
corps reached its full strength and capacity and in which the orderly distribution of 
equipment and replacement parts became the primary goal of the corps’ logistical 
activity in the United States. 

The whole volume particularizes, and merges into, the comprehensive pictures 
of mobilization, training, procurement, and supply presented in the Army Ground 


THE TECHNICAL SERVICES 


105 


F orces volumes on the organization and training of ground combat troops: R. Elberton 
Smith’s The Army and Economic Mobilization and Leighton and Coakley’s volumes 
on Global Logistics and Strategy. 

Key topics: 

1. Recruiting and training programs and devices to obtain enough recruits with 
adequate skills and aptitudes (Chs. V, VII, X-XVIII). 

2. Devices to economize manpower, including the development of general- 
purpose units, in the face of a trend toward specialized types (Chs. I, VI, X, XV). 

3. Employment of black troops (Chs. V, VI, X-XI, XIII-XIV). 

4. Standardization of equipment (Chs. IX, XXII). 

5. Competition between strictly military items and commercial components for 
industrial facilities (Chs. IV, VIII, IX, XXI). 

6. Cooperation with other services and with Allies in the development of 
equipment (Chs. II, XX). 

7. Procedures for allocating supplies among Allies (Chs. VIII, IX). 

8. Engineer personnel and training in a period of quasi-mobilization (Ch. V). 

9. Organization and functions of engineer troop units (Chs. I—II, VI, X). 

10. Organization, functions, equipment, and training of amphibian brigades (Ch. 
XVI), port reconstruction and repair groups (Ch. XVII), and petroleum distribution 
companies (Ch. XVIII). 

11. Development of engineer equipment (Chs. II, XX). 

12. Map supply and strategic intelligence and the division of responsibility 
among the Corps of Engineers, the Army Air Forces, and nonmilitary agencies in the 
preparation and supply of maps (Chs. Ill, XIX). 

13. Camouflage (Ch. III). 

14. Procurement and distribution of supplies, including the computation of 
requirements and aid to Allies (Chs. IV, VIII, IX, XXI, XXII). 

15. Methods of estimating quantities of supplies needed for construction opera¬ 
tions, that is, Class IV requirements (Ch. XXI). 

16. Maintenance and the supply of spare parts (Chs. IX, XXII). 

17. Procurement and schooling of engineer officers (Chs. V, VII). 

18. Replacement training (Chs. VII, XI). 

19. Unit training (engineer) under Army Ground Forces, Army Air Forces, and 
Army Service Forces control (Chs. XII-XV). 


THE CORPS OF ENGINEERS: CONSTRUCTION IN THE UNITED STATES. 

By LenoreFine and Jesse A. Remington. (1972,1989; 747 pages, 20 tables, 27 charts, 
5 maps, 98 illustrations, appendix, bibliographical note, glossary, index, CMH Pub 
10-5.) 

Shortly before the United States entered World War II on the side of the Allies, 
the responsibility for military construction in the United States was transferred from 
the Quartermaster Corps to the Corps of Engineers. This major shift in mission took 



106 


READER'S GUIDE 


place in two steps. First the engineers took charge of Air Corps construction in 
November 1940. Then, just weeks before the attack on Pearl Harbor, they took over 
all military construction in support of the expanding Army. In the course of the war, 
the engineers carried out a multibillion-dollar program of construction. To do this, 
they converted their decentralized network of field offices from water resource 
projects to the new mission. The result was a massive engineer construction effort that 
ranged from the barracks, hospitals, and other buildings that made up entire new 
camps to munitions factories and the complex and far-flung facilities employed in the 
Manhattan Project for production of the atomic bomb. 

Construction in the United States is replete with citations, statistics, and Army 
organization charts to make clearer an otherwise potentially confusing subject. More 
importantly this volume is also a history of people: of military leaders and their staffs 
and of civilian engineers, contractors, and suppliers, giving human interest to the 
narrative that covers all phases of this remarkable program. After describing the 
arrangements under which military construction was carried out during World War 
I and the interwar years, the study covers the political negotiations involved in the 
change and the many administrative adjustments made by the Corps of Engineers as 
it adapted to being the Army’s construction agent. The authors trace the execution of 
the mission through the dramatic rapid expansion in 1942 to peak production in 1943. 
They also cover planning for demobilization, which began during the period of the 
greatest construction activity. 

Key topics: 

1. Wartime contracting policies and practices (Chs. I, II, III, V, VIII, XIII, XVII). 

2. The use of standardized construction plans (Chs. II, IV, V, X, XVI). 

3. Acquisition, control, and apportionment of strategic materials (Chs. II, VI, IX, 
XVI). 

4. Relations between the government, contractors, and labor unions in the 
construction trades (Chs. V, X). 

5. Striking a balance between construction for troops and for industrial produc¬ 
tion (Chs. VIII-X). 

6. Real estate acquisition and disposal (Chs. V, XII, XV). 

7. Planning for demobilization (Ch. XVIII). 

8. The special characteristics of airfield construction (Chs. XIV, XIX). 

9. Construction in support of the Manhattan Project (Ch. XX). 


THE CORPS OF ENGINEERS: THE WAR AGAINST JAPAN. By Karl C. 
Dod. (1966, 1982; 759 pages, 1 chart, 33 maps, 54 illustrations, 2 appendixes, 
bibliographical note, glossaries, index, CMH Pub 10-6.) 

A companion to the operational volumes in the Army’s Pacific theater subseries, 
this volume chronicles the story of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in the most 
primitive, undeveloped, and remote areas of the Pacific Ocean, China, and Southeast 
Asia. More often than not, these regions were covered with impenetrable jungles, 
alive with tropical insects and debilitating diseases, cut by swift and wide rivers, criss- 


THE TECHNICAL SERVICES 


107 


crossed with rugged mountains, and at the end of tenuous supply lines that stretched 
hundreds, if not thousands, of miles back to developed bases. 

Whether in the tropical jungles of Papua-New Guinea or the Burma-China 
borderlands, on the coral atolls of the Central Pacific, or on the inhospitable islands 
of the Aleutians, American forces were initially confronted with a lack of even the 
most rudimentary logistical facilities and with few of the supplies they needed to 
sustain modem combat operations. They first had to carve out toeholds for bases that 
could then be tied into the worldwide logistical network that would pump in the men 
and materiel to press the fight against the Japanese. That difficult job belonged to the 
Army engineers, who first fought as combat engineers on the front lines and then 
became the builders who transformed jungles or atolls into new links in the chain of 
the advanced airfields, ports, and supply bases that would sustain the next forward 
steps on the road to Tokyo. 

The Corps of Engineers began its war against Japan well before the attack on Pearl 
Harbor as engineer units in Alaska, Hawaii, the Philippine Islands, and Panama 
labored to improve the defenses of the United States and its vital overseas possessions 
against hostile attack. After the war began, engineers in the Philippines were 
consumed in the desperate and unsuccessful campaign to hold Bataan and Corregidor 
until help arrived. Meanwhile engineer units began flowing into Australia and on to 
Papua where they developed the bases from which the Allies would begin their long 
campaign to return to the Philippines. 

General MacArthur’s strategy of “leapfrogging” up Papua-New Guinea and 
back to the Philippines stressed avoiding strong Japanese concentrations and seizing 
and then developing the airfields and bases that would permit his air forces to cover 
his next leap forward. The success of this approach depended heavily on the ability 
of his engineer forces to build sufficient facilities quickly under enemy fire, in hostile 
and primitive conditions, and often with limited supplies of materials and heavy 
equipment. 

Among the most notable of the many achievements of the Army engineers in the 
Southwest Pacific Area were the operations of the 2d, 3d, and 4th Engineer Special 
Brigades which conducted all of Mac Arthur’s amphibious assault landings from 1943 
through the end of the war. Created in 1942 to conduct the Army’s assault landings, 
the boat and shore operations of the engineer special brigades found their fullest use 
in MacArthur’s numerous amphibious operations. 

In the China-Burma-India (CBI) Theater from 1942 through 1944, engineers 
concentrated on establishing the airfields, supply lines, and bases necessary to sustain 
British, Indian, Chinese, and American forces facing the Japanese. While many 
engineer units supported the aerial supply route across the Himalayas (the Hump) and 
built airfields in China from which U.S. and Chinese air forces struck back at the 
Japanese and their homeland, others confronted a virtually impassable barrier of 
mountains, rivers, and jungles in their mission to reestablish an overland supply route 
to China. By February 1945 Army engineers had driven the Ledo Road and its 
accompanying petroleum pipeline across the mountains and jungles of northern 
Burma to link up with the old Burma Road and thus once again opened a secure land 
route to China for military supplies. 


108 


READER'S GUIDE 


Key topics: 

1. Organization and employment of engineer combat and construction units in 
support of theater operations (Chs. IV-XV). 

2. The role of engineer units in the Philippine Islands Campaign of 1941 -42 (Ch. 
HI). 

3. The role of combat engineers in combined arms operations (Chs. Ill—VI, X- 
XV). 

4. Planning and conduct of amphibious landing operations by engineer special 
brigades (Chs. VI, XIII-XIV). 

5. The development of bases and lines of communications in remote and 
undeveloped areas (Chs. IV, VII, X-XV). 

6. Airfield and air base development in primitive areas (Chs. IV-VI, X-XV). 

7. Employment of black engineer units (Chs. IV-VII, XIV-XV). 

8. The effect of modem construction equipment and mechanization on engineer 
operations (Chs. IV-XV). 

9. The prewar strengthening of defenses in Panama, Hawaii, and Alaska (Chs. I- 
II). 

10. Interrelationship of strategy, logistics, and construction (Chs. IV-V, IX-XV). 

THE CORPS OF ENGINEERS: THE WAR AGAINST GERMANY By Alfred 
M. Beck, Abe Bortz, Charles W. Lynch, Lida Mayo, and Ralph F. Weld. (1985; 608 
pages, 5 charts, 30 maps, 88 illustrations, bibliographical note, glossary, index, CMH 
Pub 10-22.) 

This volume parallels the preceding one, treating the Army Corps of Engineers 
in the Mediterranean and European theaters. There Army engineers were called upon 
to provide their traditional combat missions in offensive and defensive ground 
operations as well as the construction support needed to develop the logistical 
structure to sustain those operations. But the requirements of modem war against 
powerful foes demanded that they played new and innovative roles, such as in 
amphibious operations, airfield development for tactical and strategic air forces, aerial 
photography and mapping, and port reconstruction and repair. 

While constructing the support and training base for American forces in the 
United Kingdom, U.S. Army engineers were severely tested during combat opera¬ 
tions in North Africa, Sicily, and Italy. New tactical bridging equipment, such as the 
Bailey and treadway bridges, were successfully employed as were new heavy 
construction equipment, such as Caterpillar tractors and LeToumeau scrapers, which 
provided American engineers with a significant advantage over their opposing 
counterparts. First encountered in Tunisia, the German adeptness at mine warfare was 
a serious challenge which the combat engineers never completely overcame through 
the remainder of the war. In this area, as in others, technology could not replace the 
human skills of the individual engineer. 

This volume records the slow and methodical operations of the Italian campaign 
which placed a high premium on the more traditional skills of the combat engineer 
—laying and clearing minefields, building and assaulting field fortifications, 


THE TECHNICAL SERVICES 


109 


and developing and maintaining supply lines. Siege operations against a dug-in 
enemy in mountainous terrain, in which engineers played a critical role, replaced 
mobile warfare for months on end. In such operations, base development and the 
buildup of supplies were of importance to each forward leap and often determined the 
actual timing for each movement. 

During the Normandy Campaign of 1944, Army engineer efforts supported the 
initial lodgment and then the ensuing war of movement: clearing mines, conducting 
assault river crossings, erecting temporary tactical bridges, and rebuilding roads, 
airfields, and railways. Bridging, in fact, proved critical to the war in northern Europe 
due to the many rivers, canals, and lesser water courses that characterized the terrain. 
Allied progress often depended on the rapidity with which engineers could repair 
existing highway and rail spans, construct new ones, and replace critical assault 
bridging with more permanent structures. 

Also treated are engineers efforts to assist the military government in restoring 
basic services throughout liberated western Europe and newly occupied Germany and 
to build and maintain the logistical infrastructure that supported the permanent 
American forces stationed there. 

Key topics: 

1. Role of engineers in the United Kingdom, 1942 (Ch. III). 

2. Preparation and conduct of amphibious operations by engineer units (Chs. IV, 
VI, VII, XIV, XV, XVI, XXIII). 

3. Siege operations in Europe (Chs. XVII, XIX). 

4. Petroleum, oil, and lubricant operations and doctrine (Chs. V, XI, XIII, XX). 

5. Organization of engineer units (Chs. II, IV, XIV, XVIII). 

6. Mine warfare in Tunisia and Europe (Chs. V, IX, X, XIV, XVII). 

7. Preparation, planning, and conduct for D-day (Chs. XIII-XVI). 

THE MEDICAL DEPARTMENT: HOSPITALIZATION AND EVACUA¬ 
TION, ZONE OF INTERIOR. By ClarenceMcKittrickSmith. (1956,1983,1989; 
503 pages, 18 tables, 16 charts, 28 illustrations, bibliographical note, glossary, index, 
CMH Pub 10-7.) 

The Surgeon General in World War II was responsible for designing, building, 
equipping, and operating the Army ’ s great system ofhospitals in the United States and 
for the movement to them of patients from overseas and in the zone of interior. His 
department was also the matrix and forge of the hospitals and evacuation units sent 
to theaters of operations throughout the world, and it selected, trained, and equipped 
them. Planning and improvement of methods to meet these complex responsibilities 
constitute the main theme of the present volume. 

The author’s well-documented exposition of this theme focuses on large-scale 
hospital administration, to include medical construction, training, procurement, 
logistics, and command organization. Included are treatments of The Surgeon 
General ’ s sometime difficult relationships with the Quartermaster General, the Chief 
of Engineers, the Chief of Transportation, and the Commanding Generals of the Army 
Air Forces and the Army Service Forces in matters of responsibility and jurisdiction. 





110 


READER'S GUIDE 


Key topics: 

1. The resolution of problems of authority and responsibility with other authori¬ 
ties concerned with hospitalization and evacuation (Chs. I, IV, IX). 

2. Forecasting bed requirements and planning new construction to meet them 
(Chs. II, III, V, XI, XII, XVII). 

3. Development of new types of hospitals and evacuation units for theaters of 
operations (Chs. VI, VIII, X, XVI, XXV). 

4. Simplification of administrative procedures and internal organization of 
hospitals (Chs. VII, XIII, XIV, XV). 

5. Redesigning of vehicles for moving patients (Chs. XXII, XXIII, XXIV). 

6. Forecasting the number of patients to be evacuated from overseas (Ch. XIX). 

7. Creation of a unified system for distributing patients among hospitals in the 
United States (Chs. XX, XXI). 


THE MEDICAL DEPARTMENT: MEDICAL SERVICE IN THE MEDITER¬ 
RANEAN AND MINOR THEATERS. By Charles M. Wiltse. (1965,1978,1989; 
664 pages, 39 tables, 43 maps, 128 illustrations, 4 appendixes, bibliographical note, 
glossary, index, CMH Pub 10-8.) 

The Medical Department: Medical Service in the Mediterranean and Minor 
Theaters is the first of three volumes concerning the administrative history of the 
Army Medical Department’s overseas operations in World War II. The initial chapter 
covers the work of the Army Medical Department at the Atlantic outposts established 
in 1941 before the initiation of maj or deployments to the Mediterranean and European 
theaters. The remaining chapters describe the Army medical service in the campaigns 
in North Africa, Sicily, Italy, and southern France. Included in the appendixes are a 
survey of the organization and operations of the German medical service and a brief 
discussion of the hospitalization and evacuation system of French forces serving with 
U.S. troops in the theater. 

In the Mediterranean theater, where U.S. Army troops launched their first ground 
offensive in the fall of 1942, the organization, equipment, and techniques of the 
Medical Department were tested under a wide variety of conditions from the deserts 
of North Africa to the mountains and marshes of Italy. The experience acquired 
significantly benefited later campaigns in both Europe and the Pacific. Of particular 
importance is the pioneering work on combat psychiatry which was begun on an 
experimental basis in Tunisia and Sicily. 

From 1944, when the campaign in northern Europe first began siphoning veteran 
medical formations and their facilities from Italy, to the spring of 1945, when the 
Germans surrendered, untried replacements and chronic shortages of equipment and 
supplies handicapped the medical service in the Mediterranean theater. The work 
documents the ingenuity and skill required by medical officers to prevent disease and 
to provide evacuation, hospitalization, and care for the sick and wounded in a theater 
that had become a secondary effort. Finally, the study covers the activities of Army 
medical personnel who remained in southern Europe supporting the occupation force 


THE TECHNICAL SERVICES 


111 


and the local governments, until the last U.S. forces left Italy in December 1947. 

Key topics: 

1. Preventive medicine in a tropical climate (Chs. I—II, V, XV). 

2. Public health in the aftermath of war (Chs. II, V, XI, XIII). 

3. Medical support of widely dispersed troop concentrations (Chs. I—II). 

4. Medical support of major amphibious operations (Chs. Ill, IV, VI-VII, X, XV). 

5. Preventive medicine and insect-borne disease (Chs. I, II, IV, VI, VII-X, XV). 

6. Combat psychiatry (Chs. Ill, IV, VI-XI, XIII, XV). 

7. Prevention and treatment of venereal disease (Chs. I, II, VI, VIII-X). 

8. Training of medical troops (Ch. IV). 

9. Air evacuation (Chs. I-V, VII, VIII, X, XI, XIII, XIV). 

10. Medical care and hospitalization of prisoners of war (Chs. V, IX, XII, XIV). 

THE MEDICAL DEPARTMENT: MEDICAL SERVICE IN THE EURO¬ 
PEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS. By Graham A. Cosmas and Albert E. 
Cowdrey. (1992; 652 pages, 9 tables, 12 charts, 6 diagrams, 27 maps, 102 
illustrations, bibliographical note, glossary, index, CMH Pub 10-23.) 

This volume tells the story of the U.S. Army medical service in the largest 
American land campaign of World War II. Primarily an operational and logistical 
rather than a clinical history, it follows the development of the theater medical service 
from the beginning of the U.S. Army buildup in Great Britain early in 1942 through 
the Normandy invasion, the advance across France and the Low Countries, and the 
overrunning of the Third Reich. 

The European theater Chief Surgeon, Maj. Gen. Paul R. Hawley, and his 
assistants assembled and trained over a quarter million medical personnel; established 
hospitals containing hundreds of thousands of beds in Great Britain and on the 
Continent; solved problems of supply; safeguarded troop health; and developed a 
complex system of air, sea, rail, and ambulance evacuation. In occupied Germany, 
they encountered and overcame a situation new to American armies: the surrender and 
imprisonment of a whole enemy army, numbering in the millions; the liberation of 
other millions of prisoners and displaced persons; and the care of a conquered people 
who were both industrialized and highly urbanized. In the process, the medical 
service met the challenges of working with Allies, supporting fast-moving mecha¬ 
nized forces, adapting units and equipment for unanticipated missions, and integrat¬ 
ing the latest findings of medical science into a comprehensive system of patient care. 
This is, however, more than a story of high policy. Also described are the efforts and 
achievements of frontline aidmen, litterbearers, and ambulance drivers; doctors and 
nurses in hospitals; and the thousands of other American medical soldiers. Often 
unsung, usually overworked, and occasionally in mortal danger, they gave effect to 
abstract plans through countless acts of courage and compassion. 

This account chronicles theater medical planning and operations under conditions 
of modem, high-intensity combat. It also constitutes a case study in the workings of 
combat service support in wartime and illustrates principles of medical organization 
that remain timeless. Finally, this account dramatically reaffirms the truth that Army 


112 


READER'S GUIDE 


medicine requires for success in war doctors who are also soldiers, who understand 
the workings of the other branches of service, and who are able to cooperate effectively 
with them. 

Key topics: 

1. The solution of problems of command and control of the medical service and 
its relations with other combat and support elements (Chs. I, II, III, XIII, XVI, XVII). 

2. Forecasting hospital bed requirements and planning and executing new 
construction to meet them (Chs. I, II, IV, VIII, X, XIV, XVII). 

3. Improvisation of new types of hospitals and evacuation units within a theater 
of operations (Chs. V, VII, IX, X, XI). 

4. Operations of field army, corps, and division medical service in a variety of 
tactical situations (Chs. VI, VII, IX, XI, XII, XV). 

5. Procurement and training of medical personnel and medical units in a theater 
of operations (Chs. II, V, XIII, XVII). 

6. Integration of medical and operational planning (Chs. I, II, VI, IX). 

7. Theater and field army medical supply (Chs. II, VI, VII, IX, X, XI, XIII, XVII). 

8. Development of a theater evacuation policy and evacuation system (Chs. IV, 
VIII, X, XIV, XVII). 

9. Preventive medicine in garrison and during combat operations (Chs. I, V, VII, 
XIV, XV, XVI, XVII). 

10. The medical role in civil affairs and disaster relief in the aftermath of war (Chs. 
XVI, XVII). 

THE MEDICAL DEPARTMENT: MEDICAL SERVICE IN THE WAR 
AGAINST JAPAN. By Mary Ellen Condon-Rall and Albert E. Cowdrey. (CMH 
Pub 10-24, forthcoming.) 

This volume treats the medical history of the war against Japan, a story that was 
as varied as the theater itself, which covered approximately a third of the surface of 
the earth. The South and Southwest Pacific Areas and the China-Burma-India Theater 
were ravaged by tropical diseases; cold injury was a problem in the Aleutian fighting; 
and combat surgery was everywhere important. The need to fight a war on islands 
required the Army to make many changes in a force structure designed for land 
combat, and the Medical Department followed suit in order to provide medical 
support on the beaches, during the move inland, and in deep jungle fighting beyond 
the reach of vehicles. 

Command arrangements differed as widely as the physical environment. Theater 
surgeons were obliged to work in both Army- and Navy-run theaters and within joint 
and combined command structures. The complications that resulted, especially in the 
Southwest Pacific Area, were significant not only because coherent medical policy 
was long delayed, but because of the special difficulties of the Pacific war. Command 
support was needed to assign medical materiel the high priorities that it needed in 
order to cross thousands of miles of open ocean and arrive at the proper location, at 
the right time, and in adequate quantity. Even more important, command support was 
absolutely essential to enforce the rules of preventive medicine so vital to troop health 


THE TECHNICAL SERVICES 


113 


while fighting in primitive and highly malarial lands. 

In the South and Southwest Pacific the authors record the complex medical 
learning process that took place. Although troops in both theaters had been in combat 
from the first days of the war, their lack of time for preparation was reflected in the 
early epidemics that weakened both the defenders of Bataan and the conquerors of 
Guadalcanal and Papua. Hard-won mastery of preventive medicine and amphibious 
medical organization contributed crucially to the later triumphs of American arms. In 
all the Pacific theaters, amphibious medical support was a complex art that was 
learned and perfected to a great extent under enemy fire. In the Central Pacific Area 
the treatment and evacuation of wounded rather than fighting disease became the 
centerpiece of medical activity. Finally, medical personnel in the China-Burma-India 
Theater devoted their efforts not only to support of the small American forces, but to 
aiding the miserably ill-equipped Chinese armies and teaching the rudiments of 
medicine to young Chinese officers. 

Although care of American and Allied forces grew ever more sophisticated, 
medical support for guerrillas and prisoners of war continued to be primitive in many 
respects. Care of civilians injured in the fighting gradually improved, however, 
leading to the successful efforts of the postwar military government in Japan to 
suppress disease among former enemies, preserve life, and provide for the victims of 
the atomic bombs. 

Key topics: 

1. The organization of a theater medical service in j oint and combined commands 
(Chs. II, III, VII, XI, XIII). 

2. Medical interaction with Allied civil health authorities in wartime (Chs. II, VII, 
X, XII). 

3. The organization of medical support for operations in primitive regions (Chs. 
IV, VI, IX). 

4. Medical support of amphibious operations (Chs. IV, V, VI, X). 

5. Medical support of guerrilla bands (Ch. XI). 

6. The provision of medical care for conquered populations (Ch. XIII). 

7. Medical consequences of a nuclear attack (Ch. XIII). 

THE ORDNANCE DEPARTMENT: PLANNING MUNITIONS FOR WAR. 

By Constance McLaughlin Green, Harry C. Thomson, and Peter C. Roots. (1955, 
1970, 1990; 542 pages, 14 tables, 18 charts, 54 illustrations, bibliographical note, 
glossary, index, CMH Pub 10-9.) 

This first volume includes background material, reaching from the early nine¬ 
teenth century to the outbreak of war in Europe in 193 9 (Chs. I—III). The research and 
development programs, 1919 to 193 9, receive special attention because of their direct 
effect upon much of the later work. The main emphasis of the book nevertheless falls 
upon the period 1939 to 1945. 

While endeavoring to examine dispassionately the attitudes of other agencies 
within and outside the Army, the authors present the story chiefly from the point of 
view of the Ordnance Department. Chapter III gives a brief account of the financing 





114 


READER'S GUIDE 


of the department’s activities before and during World War II in order to put the 
discussion of policies and procedures, accomplishments and failures, into a meaning¬ 
ful setting. It includes a rapid survey of the consequences of lend-lease, supplemental 
to the data in Global Logistics and Strategy. Chapter IV highlights the framework 
within which the department worked, the organization created by the two wartime 
Chiefs of Ordnance, and the revisions demanded by Army reorganization and the 
appearance of new civilian agencies; it also explains not only the major organizational 
features but also the philosophy underlying them and the sources of conflict between 
the Ordnance Department and other agencies. Two subsequent chapters (V and VI) 
cover recruitment and training of personnel to carry on the expanded tasks of the 
department. The rest of the volume deals with research and development problems. 

Much of the section on research and development contains a discussion of 
particular items developed to meet particular military needs. It focuses therefore on 
the problem of translating combat requirements into feasible “development require¬ 
ments” and the steps the Ordnance Department took to satisfy them. Hence the 
chapters on ordnance for ground warfare (X-XIII) deal with the development of 
equipment designed to embody all three desiderata of modem warfare: the greatest 
possible mobility, maximum firepower, and utmost protection for troops. A chapter 
(XIV) on weapons for ground defense against aerial attack constitutes the bridge 
between the data on ground and air equipment, while Chapters XV through XVII on 
aircraft armament analyze the characteristics of adequate airborne weapons and the 
work of the Ordnance Department in endeavoring to develop suitable airborne guns, 
rockets, and bombs. Comparisons with German concepts, methods, and results throw 
added light on much of the American research and development program. Finally, in 
Chapter XVIII, exploration of the difficulties resulting from the shortage of strategi¬ 
cally important raw materials and description of the means devised to conserve them 
further explain ordnance quandaries. 

Key topics: 

1. Relations between the Ordnance Department and higher echelons of the War 
Department, other technical services, and civilian research agencies (Ch. IV, VIII). 

2. Decentralization versus centralized control of ordnance activities (Ch. IV). 

3. Problems of the ordnance training program (Chs. V, VI). 

4. The relationship of doctrine of tactical use to the development of new weapons 
(Ch. IX). 

5. The role of technical intelligence and exchange of scientific data with Allied 
nations (Chs. VII, IX). 

6. The time lag between completion of an experimental weapon and its employ¬ 
ment in combat: German and American views on “battle-testing” (Ch. IX). 

7. Armor and firepower versus lightness, maneuverability, and numbers: the tank 
controversy (see Index: “Tanks”). 

8. For other ordnance items, see index listings for particular types of materiel. 

THE ORDNANCE DEPARTMENT: PROCUREMENT AND SUPPLY. By 

HarryC. Thomson and Lida Mayo\\960, 1980,1991; 504pages,24tables,2charts, 
52 illustrations, bibliographical note, glossary, index, CMH Pub 10-10.) 


THE TECHNICAL SERVICES 


115 


This volume fits the activities of the Ordnance Department into the larger pictures 
of procurement and supply to be found in The Army and Economic Mobilization and 
the two volumes on Global Logistics and Strategy. The story focuses on the particular 
items that ordnance officers were tasked to procure and supply: artillery and small 
arms, and ammunition for both; fire-control instruments; combat vehicles, including 
the tank; the transport vehicles that put the Army and its supplies on motor-driven 
wheels; and spare parts and maintenance for all of these. How it provided and 
maintained such vital instruments of war is of interest to all who depended on them 
for effectiveness in combat, and not less so to employers and employees in the great 
American industries, such as the automotive, whose plants and skills the Army drew 
into its service to aid in producing these instruments. 

This volume complements Planning Munitions for War, which describes the 
development of Ordnance Department weapons. The section on procurement in the 
present volume centers on the department’s Industrial Division, the manufacturing 
arsenals, and the district offices; the section dealing with supply concentrates on the 
Field Service Division and the depots and changes in the depot system introduced to 
improve delivery all over the globe of the right kinds of munitions in the right 
quantities. 

At the outset the authors describe the problems of the department in launching the 
munitions program of 1940 and in the basic task of computing requirements. They 
examine the need for new construction, both of depot and manufacturing facilities, as 
a factor in lengthening the gap between the decision to rearm and readiness to deploy 
adequately armed combat forces. They give full weight to the strong ties developed 
over the years between the Ordnance Department and industry through the procure¬ 
ment districts, the manufacturing arsenals, and the Army Ordnance Association and 
describe, in nontechnical language, wartime manufacturing methods and new tech¬ 
niques of production. In a succession of “commodity chapters” the volume explores 
the most serious problems that the department had to overcome in procuring or 
producing a class of equipment, such as artillery, tanks, ammunition of various types, 
and vehicles, repeatedly emphasizing the critical importance of machine tools for the 
production of fighting equipment. The rest of the volume tells how the department 
stored and distributed the enormous quantities and varieties of munitions produced 
and gives particular attention to problems of cataloging and stock control. 

Key topics: 

1. Requirements and the difficulties attending the establishment of firm, long- 
range production objectives (Ch. IV). 

2. The Ordnance Department’s experience with conflicting demands for mass 
production and for improvements in design (Chs. V-XI). 

3. Arsenals: their role as repositories of production knowledge and as centers for 
overhaul and modification of materiel in storage (Chs. V-IX). 

4. Ordnance experience with the problem of spare parts, especially for tanks and 
trucks (Ch. XIII). 

5. Measures to regulate and speed up the movement of ordnance from factory to 
depot to troops (Chs. XVII, XVIII). 

6. Devices, such as standardization of nomenclature and parts numbering 






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READER’S GUIDE 


(especially important for spare parts), stock control, and use of electrical accounting 
machines in reporting depot stocks, to bring about more efficient stockage and 
distribution of ordnance materiel (Chs. XIX, XX). 

7. The creation of ordnance troop units suitable for supply, repair, and preventive 
maintenance and the problem of working out effective management of maintenance 
shops in the zone of interior through the service command system set up by the Army 
Service Forces (Ch. XXII). 

THE ORDNANCE DEPARTMENT: ON BEACHHEAD AND BATTLE- 
FRONT. By Lida Mayo. (1968, 1978, 1991; 523 pages, 25 tables, 4 charts, 69 
illustrations, 8 maps, bibliographical note, glossary, index, CMH Pub 10-11.) 

On Beachhead and BattlefrontteMs the evolving story of combat service support 
for items of ordnance equipment and ammunition. The volume concentrates on the 
European, Mediterranean, and Southwest Pacific Theaters of Operations, drawing a 
distinction among these theaters of war and the type of support demanded in each 
theater of operations. Other areas, such as the China-Burma-India Theater and the 
South Pacific, Caribbean, and Alaska, are mentioned only in passing or in how they 
support the main theaters of operations. The author provides rich combat service 
support contrasts and similarities between Pacific and European theaters. Beginning 
with the Army’s first offensives in Burma, Papua, and North Africa, the narrative then 
follows the invasion of Europe beginning with Sicily, cumulating in victory in 
Europe. The story then returns to the Pacific to describe the invasions of New Guinea, 
the Philippines, and Okinawa. Ordnance support for both operational planning and 
execution are the central themes. 

The author carefully begins each campaign with a brief military geographical 
overview, discusses the planning and conduct of ensuing operations, and then details 
the ordnance combat service support that was provided. Planning is first considered 
and then contrasted with execution. In each of the unfolding campaigns the author 
details the units and men conducting ordnance support, drawing extensively upon the 
detailed ordnance records down to unit level to give the reader a sense of the issues 
that might otherwise be lost. 

The volume also details the organizational concept of support, pointing out the 
various echelons of support in each theater, but focusing on field army level and the 
support given to subordinate corps and divisions. In each case units, commanders, 
planners, and soldiers are mentioned with illustrations of their changing combat 
circumstance, and doctrinal issues of organization, levels of stockage, command, 
control, and communications are fully portrayed. The evolving ordnance organiza¬ 
tional concept of support reflected the changing command and control needs of the 
various campaigns. The study thus contrasts the mobility and transport requirements 
for equipment coming into each theater and the demands placed on ordnance support 
under combat conditions. In each case maintenance support was effected as far 
forward as feasible. 

This volume also evaluates U.S. equipment and compares it to Axis equipment, 
not only in quality and quantity, but the rapidity with which it was fielded. Further, 


THE TECHNICAL SERVICES 


117 


by detailing each successive campaign, this volume accents the continued improvi¬ 
sation and imagination generated by ordnance personnel. Towed sleds behind tanks 
in Italy, hedgerow cutting tanks in Normandy, and barge-mounted maintenance shops 
in the Philippines, all contributed to successful combat service supportto the frontline 
soldier. 

Key topics: 

1. Ammunition support to the forces in the field (Chs. X, XV, XIX, XXI). 

2. Maintenance support in mud, snow, sand, and jungle (Chs. V, XXI, XXIV). 

3. Preparation for invasion (Ch. XIII). 

4. Importance of early realistic combat assessment of maintenance and ammu¬ 
nition support (Chs. X, XI, XX). 

5. Continued need for transportation by truck or water with attendant need for 
tires and major assemblies (Chs. V, VII, XII). 

6. Continual equipment combat evaluation and improvement through improvisa¬ 
tion and imaginative replacement by new equipment (Chs. XVII, XXIII). 

THE QUARTERMASTER CORPS: ORGANIZATION, SUPPLY, AND SER¬ 
VICES, VOLUME I. By Erna Risch. (1953, 1987; 418 pages, 11 charts, 25 
illustrations, bibliographical note, glossary, index, CMH Pub 10-12.) 

THE QUARTERMASTER CORPS: ORGANIZATION, SUPPLY, AND SER¬ 
VICES, VOLUME II. By Erna Risch and Chester L. Kieffer. (1955, 1983; 433 
pages, 19 tables, 3 charts, 30 illustrations, bibliographical note, glossary, index, CMH 
Pub 10-13.) 

A military force is a separated community, what sociologists call a “segregative 
community,” and in modem war it becomes a huge one. An army (or navy) has not 
only to forge an effective fighting force out of this vast community and arm it, but also 
to feed and clothe it, and, in general, step into the place of a thousand private and public 
enterprises that normally provide for its daily human needs. The principal business 
of the Quartermaster Corps in World War II was to provide the housing, food, clothes, 
personal equipment, and fuel for a community that numbered, first and last, between 
eleven and twelve million men and women. It also provided laundry, bath, and other 
services. The corps became therefore at once a bridge and a transforming agency 
between the civilian economy and a “nation in arms” which was soon deployed 
throughout the globe. 

These two volumes show that the Quartermaster Corps was unprepared for this 
staggering task, partly because of financial starvation, partly from lack of vision and 
flexibility, largely because of demands that could not be anticipated. Food and 
clothing, for example, while they had to be standardized for mass procurement, had 
also to be adapted and varied for use in every diversity of climate and terrain. 
Equipment had to be reduced in bulk since mobility of force was at a premium and 
cargo shipping was one of the Allies’ scarcest resources throughout the war. 

These volumes describe the vigor, ingenuity, and resourcefulness with which the 
Quartermaster General and his corps attacked a bewildering variety of tasks and 


118 


READER'S GUIDE 


emphasize failures as well as successes. Even the most successful expedients were 
often distasteful to the individual soldier who had to endure dehydrated vegetables 
and fruits, egg and milk powders, and similar prepackaged edibles. Improvements 
were often slow. When, for example, GIs refused to use lemon powder except to scrub 
floors, the Quartermaster Corps simply stopped having it made. 

These volumes also detail the cooperation of American industry with the Army 
on a vast scale. The Quartermaster General engaged over two hundred firms in tasks 
of research and development and covered a larger sector of the normal civilian 
economy in procuring supplies needed by the Army than did any other service. 
Another major story centers around the administration of those supplies. Essentially, 
the Quartermaster Corps developed a commodity-functional type of organization and 
stock control system to effect economy and achieve a balanced distribution of 
supplies. The result is a history of mass organization operating under high pressures, 
capable of improvisation, and sufficiently flexible to perform its huge task effectively. 

Both volumes describe the Quartermaster Corps at work in the zone of interior. 
Volume I, after treating the reorganization and expansion of the corps at the outbreak 
of war and sketching its wartime organization (Introduction and Ch. I), deals with 
research and development (Chs. II—V), procurement and production control (Chs. VI- 
VIII), storage and warehousing operations (Ch. IX), and stock control (Ch. X). 
Volume II treats salvage and reclamation (Chs. I—II) and the problems of industrial 
demobilization (Ch. Ill), and includes a statistical review (Ch. IV) reflecting the 
magnitude and proportions of quartermaster operations in World War II. It completes 
the picture of zone of interior activities with an account of the recruiting, assignment, 
and training of quartermaster personnel (Chs. V-IX) and of such special services of 
the corps as the procurement of animals (Ch. X), its operation of laundry and dry- 
cleaning establishments (Ch. XI), and its provisions for the care of the dead (Ch. XII). 

Key topics: 

1. Forecasting Army requirements (I, Ch. VI). 

2. Requirements and procurement (I, Chs. II, VI). 

3. Factors affecting technical military research in preparation for war and in 
wartime (I, Chs. II-V). 

4. Effects of the 1942 reorganization of the War Department on the Quartermaster 
Corps (I, Ch. I). 

5. Streamlining procurement procedures during the war (I, Ch. VII). 

6. Expediting production (I, Ch. VIII). 

7. Wartime expansion of storage facilities (I, Ch. IX). 

8. Development of stock control (I, Ch. X). 

9. Conservation of supplies (II, Ch. II). 

10. Contract termination (II, Ch. III). 

11. Industrial demobilization (II, Ch. III). 

12. The Quartermaster General and the Army Service Forces (I, Ch. I). 

13. Army clothing development (I, Ch. III). 

14. Ration development (I, Ch. V). 

15. Packaging and packing of quartermaster supplies (I, Chs. V, IX). 

16. Inspection of quartermaster supplies (I, Ch. VIII). 


THE TECHNICAL SERVICES 


119 


17. Use of material-handling equipment (I, Ch. IX). 

18. Mechanizing the handling of equipment (I, Ch. IX). 

19. Disposal of suiplus property (I, Ch. X; II, Ch. III). 

20. Salvage operations (II, Ch. I). 

21. Development and training of quartermaster units (II, Ch. IX). 

22. Use of dogs in war (II, Ch. X). 

23. Operation of Army laundries (II, Ch. XI). 

24. Care of the dead (II, Ch. XII). 

THE QUARTERMASTER CORPS: OPERATIONS IN THE WAR AGAINST 
JAPAN. By Alvin P. Stauffer. (1956,1978,1990; 358 pages, 3 maps, 29 illustrations, 
bibliographical note, glossary, index, CMH Pub 10-14.) 

This book is an analytical history of quartermaster activities in three great U.S. 
theater commands in the war against Japan: the Southwest Pacific, South Pacific, and 
Central Pacific Areas. Since Army elements were most numerous in General 
Mac Arthur’s command, the Southwest Pacific is treated at greater length than the 
others. But the author, observing in general a chronological sequence, has linked the 
diverse developments in the three commands. 

The narrative includes the efforts of quartermasters in 1941 to equip the 
Philippine Army for a hostile attack, an undertaking largely frustrated by lack of time 
and the initial American strategy of meeting invasion at the beach line. This strategy 
called for dispersion of stocks that had been painfully accumulated at depots that were 
thus soon overrun and had to be destroyed to avert capture. Complementing The Fall 
of the Philippines, the volume then recounts the ingenious efforts on Bataan to stave 
off starvation by fishing, harvesting local rice crops, and slaughtering carabao and the 
brave but tragic attempts to break through the strangling Japanese blockade and bring 
in food from the southern Philippines and from Australia and the Dutch East Indies. 

The narrative then focuses on food-importing Hawaii. There the Army, fearing 
a Japanese invasion, gave the quartermaster of the Hawaiian Department an extraor¬ 
dinary role as controller of civilian food supplies. Hawaii, New Zealand, and 
Australia were the only land masses in the Pacific that had been sufficiently developed 
to serve as major bases. Remoteness from the United States and shipping shortages 
put a premium on local procurement of military necessities in the two British 
commonwealths, especially Australia, which became major suppliers of subsistence 
and provided large quantities of other items. 

The corps was also confronted with extraordinary difficulties of supply over the 
long lines running from depots in the United States to widely scattered island bases 
in territory that lacked the basic facilities for storage and distribution. The author 
describes how these difficulties were surmounted and troops on tiny atolls and 
jungleclad islands were supplied, giving close attention to interruptions of supply to 
bases and troops. The volume includes an evaluation of the utility of the various items 
of individual and organizational equipment under the exceptional conditions of island 
and tropical warfare and covers the whole gamut of quartermaster responsibilities in 
the field, from bakeries, baths, laundry, salvage, and graves registration, to the supply 




120 


READER'S GUIDE 


of food and clothing. 

Key topics: 

1. The influence of logistical unpreparedness on capacity for defense (Luzon) 
(Ch. I). 

2. Logistical planning for island campaigns (Ch. X). 

3. Relationship of military command to the civilian population under conditions 
of martial law (Hawaii) (Ch. II). 

4. Overseas supply mission and organization (Chs. II—VI). 

5. Problems of local procurement in foreign lands (Ch. V). 

6. Operations of island supply bases (Chs. IV, VI, VII, VIII). 

7. Supply distribution problems in island warfare (Chs. VI, VII, VIII). 

8. Theater relations with the zone of interior in supply matters (Ch. VI). 

9. Automatic resupply of combat forces (Ch. VI). 

10. Supply under operational conditions (Chs. VI, VIII, X, XI). 

11. Evaluation of the provision of personal services and comforts (Ch. IX). 

12. Evaluation of items of individual and organizational equipment in tropical 
combat (Ch. XI). 

THE QUARTERMASTER CORPS: OPERATIONS IN THE WAR AGAIN ST 
GERMANY. By William F. Ross and Charles F. Romanus . (1965,1979,1991; 798 
pages, 21 tables, 4 charts, 3 maps, 39 illustrations, bibliographical note, glossary, 
index, CMH Pub 10-15.) 

The chief function of the U.S. Army Quartermaster Corps in Europe was to 
provide food and clothing for the troops. But it was also involved in such work as 
supplying laundry and bath facilities; collecting, identifying, and burying the dead; 
providing fuel, shelter, and the liquor ration; supplying spare parts and salvaging 
useful items; handling captured enemy equipment; and acting as supply custodian to 
the far-flung civil affairs organization. By the spring of 1945, the Quartermaster 
Corps in the Mediterranean and European theaters was furnishing necessities and 
comforts to more than seven and one-half million people, of whom 60 percent were 
Allies, civilians, and prisoners of war. It was the largest human support operation by 
a single organization to that time. 

This study emphasizes the higher levels of quartermaster activity at different 
periods of the war against the Axis. In the Mediterranean Theater of Operations 
encompassing North Africa, Sicily, and Italy, stress has been placed on the roles of 
the corps, army, and base section quartermasters, while in the European theater greater 
attention has been given to the problems of the Theater Chief Quartermaster. This 
difference in approach springs from differences between the two theaters. The 
Mediterranean theater evolved more slowly, with strong British involvement. In the 
Mediterranean, moreover, there was greater influence upon operations by junior 
logistical commanders and staff officers than in the more elaborate and tightly knit 
theater organization to the north. 

Dominating quartermaster activity in the European Theater of Operations was 
a toweringly energetic soldier—Maj. Gen. Robert M. Littlejohn. His frustrations. 


THE TECHNICAL SERVICES 


121 


mistakes, and triumphs in organizing supply for highly mechanized continental 
warfare and his efforts to maintain a strong position with respect to G-4 and the other 
technical services provide the principal narrative thread for this volume. From the 
moment of his arrival in London in 1942 as a key member of the special staff in the 
Services of Supply, the history of the quartermaster support mission in Europe is 
inseparably associated with the officer who headed it. 

He touched the cardinal issues of the day: the multifaceted logistical planning 
effort in England for the great cross-Channel attack; the crisis of “frantic supply” 
during the race across France in mid-1944; the winter clothing and trench foot 
controversy during the stalemate a few months later; and the controversy over 
prisoner-of-war rations amid the theater and worldwide food shortage in 1945. 
General Littlejohn’s last assignment in the European theater was head of the Graves 
Registration Command, an effort representing the largest item of unfinished quarter¬ 
master business in the liberated countries as the fighting came to a close. 

Key topics: 

1. Forecasting logistical requirements and developing logistical planning factors 
(Chs. II, V, VI, VII, IX, XI, XV-XVIII). 

2. Automatic and standard supply procedures (Chs. IX, XII). 

3. Development of a theater troop basis (Chs. II, IV, XI, XII, XIV). 

4. Training of logistical forces (Chs. II, XI, XIX, XX). 

5. “Host” nation support of logistical operations (Chs. IX, X). 

6. Supply operations in pursuit warfare and in the retreat (Chs. Ill, IV, XIII, XIV, 
XVI, XVIII). 

7. Theater relations with the zone of interior and the ports of embarkation on such 
issues as logistical organization, supply requirements, and manpower (Chs. XII, 
XVI). 

8. Quartermaster preparations for amphibious operations (Chs. II, IX, X, XI). 

9. Quartermaster organization in a combat zone (Chs. Ill, IV, XII, XIII, XIV). 

10. Local procurement of goods and services (Chs. II, V, VII, X, XII, XV, XVII). 

11. Feeding and clothing prisoners of war (Chs. Ill, IV, V, VII, XV, XVII). 

12. Salvage operations in forward areas (Chs. Ill, VII, XX). 

13. Care of the dead (Chs. Ill, IV, VIII, XIX). 

THE SIGNAL CORPS: THE EMERGENCY (TO DECEMBER 1941). By 

Dulany Terrett. (1956, 1986; 383 pages, 37 illustrations, appendix, bibliographical 
note, glossary, index, CMH Pub 10-16.) 

THE SIGNAL CORPS: THE TEST (DECEMBER 1941 TO JULY 1943). By 

George Raynor Thompson , Dixie R. Harris, Pauline M. Oakes , and Dulany Terrett. 
(1957, 1978; 621 pages, 44 illustrations, bibliographical note, glossaries, index, 
CMH Pub 10-17.) 

THE SIGNAL CORPS: THE OUTCOME (MID-1943THROUGH 1945). By George 
Raynor Thompson and Dixie R. Harris. (1966, 1985, 1991; 720 pages, 4 tables, 77 
illustrations, appendix, bibliographical note, glossaries, index, CMH Pub 10-18.) 


122 


READER'S GUIDE 


During World War II the Signal Corps provided, as it had traditionally done, both 
strategic and tactical communications. As both a combat arm and a technical service, 
a status it shared only with the Corps of Engineers, it was responsible for the doctrine 
and equipment used by every Army communicator. Thanks to the technological 
advances of the 1920s and 1930s, electronic signals carried the voice of command 
from Washington to the most distant theater of operations. Although FM radio had 
been developed for tactical use by the eve of World War II, pigeons continued to roost 
within the Signal Corps’ inventory. By 1945, despite instances of heroic service, 
especially in Italy, their days as Army communicators were numbered. These winged 
messengers, survivors of a simpler era, could not compete with such electronic 
battlefield devices as the walkie-talkie. The story of this communications revolution 
is contained in these three volumes. Advances in electronics, especially radar, were 
second in importance only to that of nuclear fission as an application of scientific 
knowledge to the fighting of a technological war. However, in the development of 
many other electronic devices, such as the proximity fuze, Signal Corps research 
efforts were also significant. 

Of the technical services, the Signal Corps was the least prepared in 1941 for what 
lay ahead. The War Department’s prewar planning grossly underestimated the 
demands for communication that the kind of war in which the United States was about 
to engage would impose. The Emergency examines this planning. It sketches the 
growth of the corps from its birth in 1860 to the outbreak of World War II in Europe 
in 1939 (Chs. I—III). The narrative establishes the breadth of the corps’ mission and 
describes its organization, doctrine, and programs of research and development, since 
all of these deeply affected its activities in World War II. The emphasis of the volume 
is nonetheless placed on the events of the period from 1939 to December 1941. Each 
of the main activities of the corps is treated: research and development; procurement, 
testing, and evaluation; the storage, distribution, and maintenance of devices and 
systems of communication; and the elaborate training programs needed to see that all 
of these activities were accomplished effectively. Subsequent volumes continue the 
coverage of these areas during the war years. 

The Test begins when two young Signal Corps soldiers at their radar set on Oahu 
detected the enemy’s bombers winging their way in to attack Pearl Harbor. In the 
months that followed, the corps was almost overwhelmed by the weight of demands 
for men, equipment, and globe-circling administrative communications systems. The 
Signal Corps nevertheless ultimately rose to the challenge, providing communica¬ 
tions of unprecedented scope and variety. By mid-1943 the corps had passed its first 
major test in the deserts of North Africa. 

The Outcome follows the Signal Corps through the subsequent theaters of 
combat: from the assault landings in Sicily and Italy; through the hedgerows of 
France; to the jungles of the CBI and the Southwest Pacific. The second half of the 
volume is devoted to discussing such major activities as electronic warfare, signal 
security and intelligence, and photography. The authors carry the Signal Corps’ story 
past V-J Day to the first attempt at space-age signals. Project Diana, early in 1946. 

In communications as in other areas, World War II required enormous coopera¬ 
tive effort. Thus, the interaction between the War Department, other military 


THE TECHNICAL SERVICES 


123 


agencies, the Allies, and the civil communications industry loom large in these 
narratives. Although conflicts between these groups are presented from the stand¬ 
point of the Signal Corps, each volume has endeavored to do justice to other points 
of view in examining and presenting the evidence. The last chapter of the second 
volume (XVI) examines what was perhaps the most critical of these controversies, the 
jurisdictional conflict between the Chief Signal Officer and the Commanding General 
of the Army Service Forces (ASF) over the level of command at which control of 
Army communications should be exercised. This wartime power struggle was 
resolved in 1946 with the dissolution of the ASF, and the Chief Signal Officer 
regained direct control over the Army’s communications, but the organizational 
conflict remained without a solid solution, until the McNamara reforms of the 1960s. 

A useful feature of the first and third volumes is the appendix in which most of 
the Signal Corps’ World War II equipment is listed and explained in terms intelligible 
to a layman. The list in volume III has been modified to reflect the discontinuance 
of certain items. 

Key topics: 

1. The conflict between mass production of instruments of war and technological 
improvements (II, Ch. XV). 

2. Industrial capacity and plant expansion in the communications industry (II, 
Chs. I, VI, XV; III, Ch. XII). 

3. Small business contributions and subcontracting (II, Ch. XI). 

4. Extent and effect of international aid (lend-lease) programs (II, Chs. I, XV). 

5. Materials shortages and conservation and substitution measures (II, Ch. VI; III, 
Ch. XII). 

6. Contract termination and renegotiation (II, Ch. XV; III, Ch. XII). 

7. Stock control and storage (II, Ch. XV; III, Ch. XIII). 

8. Expansion of storage facilities and development of improved depot procedures 
(II, Chs. VI, XV; III, Ch. XIII). 

9. Effect of the 1942 reorganization of the War Department on the Signal Corps 
(II, Chs. Ill, XVI). 

10. Prewar radar experimentation in the United States and in foreign countries (I, 
Chs. I, II, VII). 

11. Development of the Army’s first radar sets, 1937^40 (I, Chs. II, V). 

12. The Tizard Mission (I, Ch. VII). 

13. Radar proliferation and specialization (I, Chs. VII, X, and App.; II, Chs. Ill, 
IX, X, XII; III, Ch. I). 

14. The introduction of FM and crystal control into the U.S. Army’s radio 
communications (I, Chs. VI, VII; II, Ch. VIII). 

15. The dawn of space-age communications (III, Ch. XIX). 

16. Army photographic responsibilities, organization, and contributions: combat 
photography, V-Mail, training films, still photography, photographic training (I, Chs. 
Ill, IV, IX; II, Ch. XIII; III, Ch. XVII). 

17. Development of the wartime aircraft warning system (I, Chs. Ill, VI, XI; II, 
Chs. I, II, III, IV, V, VII, X, XIV). 

18. Signal training and signal schools (I, Chs. II, VI, VIII; II, Chs. I, II, VII, XI; 




124 


READER'S GUIDE 


III, Ch. XVI). 

19. Manpower problems in the Signal Corps, military and civilian (II, Chs. I, II, 
XI; III, Chs. VII, XI, XVI). 

20. Labor supply problems and the Signal Corps labor organization (II, Ch. XV; 
III, Ch. XII). 

21. Signal wire and radio equipment (I, Chs. II, V, VI, IX, and App.; II, Chs. Ill, 
VIII; III, Ch. XV). 

22. Signal radar equipment: airborne and ground (I, Chs. V, VI, VII, X, XI, and 
App.; II, Chs. Ill, IX, XI; III, Chs. XIV, XV, and App.). 

23. Development and use of radio link (relay) equipment in the U.S. Army (II, Ch. 
VIII; III, Chs. Ill, IV, VIII, IX). 

24. Extending administrative and command communication facilities around the 
world (I, Ch. XI; II, Chs. I, IV, V, X, XIV; III, Chs. II-IX, XVIII). 

25. Alaska communications and the Alaska Communications System (I, Ch. I, 
XI; II, Chs. V, XIV). 

26. Pigeon communications (I, Chs. I, III, IX; II, Chs. XII, XIV; III, Chs. II, III). 

27. Wartime contracting and procurement organizations and procedures in the 
Signal Corps (II, Chs. I, VI, XI, XV; III, Ch. XII). 

28. Effect of patents and licensing agreements on wartime procurement (II, Ch. 

XI). 

29. Spare parts supply (II, Ch. XI; III, Chs. V, XIII). 

30. Inspecting signal supplies: organization, procedures, and problems (II, Chs. 
VI, XV; III, Ch. XII). 

31. Packing and packaging, waterproofing, and tropicalization of signal supplies 
(II, Ch. XV; III, Chs. VII, XII). 

32. Relations with and support of the Army Air Forces (I, Ch. X; II, Chs. Ill, VIII, 

IX, X, XVI; III, Chs. VII, XIV, XV, XVIII). 

33. Signal intelligence, security, and countermeasures (II, Chs. VII, XIV; III, Chs. 

X, XI). 


THE TRANSPORTATION CORPS: RESPONSIBILITIES, ORGANIZATION, 
AND OPERATIONS. By Chester Wardlow. (1951,1980; 454 pages, 12 tables, 7 
charts, 28 illustrations, 4 appendixes, bibliographical note, glossaries, index, CMH 
Pub 10-19.) 

The movement of men and supplies, en masse, over great distances became in 
World War II one of the most vital military interests of the powers engaged, 
particularly of the Western Allies. Movement overseas, in particular, presented them 
with problems whose solution spelled the difference between failure and success in 
defeating the Axis powers. This and the two succeeding volumes on the Army’s 
Transportation Corps are written with an awareness of the importance of effective 
transportation in bringing to bear the power of the U.S. Army and in delivering 
military supplies to the British Commonwealth, the USSR, and China, where and 
when needed to carry out the strategic plans of the Allies. 


THE TECHNICAL SERVICES 


125 


The Transportation Corps was created after the United States entered the war to 
overwatch the Army’s interest in these matters and to provide the facilities required 
to move its men and supplies. As the youngest of the seven “technical services” 
brought together under the control of General Somervell’s Army Service Forces in 
March 1942, the corps was responsible for obtaining the Army ’ s share in the services 
of common carriers in the United States (by rail, highway, and inland waterways) and 
in shipping on the high seas. It also supervised the great system of ports of 
embarkation; organized and operated the rail and truck transportation the Army 
developed to supplement these services; and assembled and administered, loaded and 
unloaded the Army’s fleet of troopships, hospital ships, and freighters. 

This volume covers antecedents and origins of the corps; the difficulties over¬ 
come in constituting this latecomer among the Army’s services and rendering it 
efficient; its internal organization in Washington and in the field; its relations with 
other elements in the Army Service Forces and the overseas commands of the Army; 
and the measures adopted to ensure economy and efficiency in the use of ports and 
ships. Also treated are its cooperation and conflicts with the Navy, the Interstate 
Commerce Commission, the Office of Defense Transportation, the War Shipping 
Administration, and the British Ministry of War Transport. 

Key topics: 

1. Transportation as a factor in strategic planning (Ch. I). 

2. The shipping crisis in World War II and the Army’s measures to meet it (Chs. 
V, VI, VIII). 

3. Wartime relations of military and civilian agencies (Ch. VI, IX, XI). 

4. Adaptation and conversion of peacetime public services to war use (Chs. V, 
VIII, IX). 

5. Relationship of the technical services to the Army Service Forces (Ch. III). 

6. The American shipbuilding achievement (Ch. V). 

7. The special position given the Army Air Forces in the transportation field (Ch. 

III). 

8. The cost of delayed planning to meet the Army’s transportation needs (Chs. II, 
III). 

9. Wartime organization: 

a. Office of the Chief of Transportation (Ch. III). 

b. Field establishments of the Transportation Corps (Ch. IV). 

10. Control of port utilization and ship employment (Chs. IV, V, VIII). 

11. The operation of the Army’s wartime fleet and ports (Chs. VII, VIII). 

12. The Transportation Corps and the Navy (Ch. VI). 

13. The Army’s wartime relationship with the railroads and other inland carriers 
(Ch. IX). 

14. The Army’s own carriers and their administration (Ch. X). 


THE TRANSPORTATION CORPS: MOVEMENTS, TRAINING, AND SUP¬ 
PLY. By Chester Wardlow. (1956,1978,1990; 564 pages, 40 tables, 12 charts, 59 
illustrations, bibliographical note, glossaries, index, CMH Pub 10-20.) 





126 


READER'S GUIDE 


This volume deals extensively with movement, the heart of the Transportation 
Corps mission. The narrative focuses on the massive movements of men and materiel 
within the zone of interior and between the United States and overseas theaters of 
operations. 

In meeting its responsibilities in the zone of interior the corps was drawn into 
active relationships with the common carriers of the United States by rail, highway, 
and waterway and with the civilian Director of Defense Transportation, in the effort 
to ensure proper handling of essential civilian traffic as well as extraordinary military 
demands, since nonmilitary traffic was also greatly increased by the war. The author 
also deals with the problems of the Chief of Transportation in providing shipping 
capacity, the most needed and scarcest logistical requirement of the war, to move 
troops and supplies to the overseas theaters of operations. This responsibility required 
collaboration with the U.S. Maritime Commission, the War Shipping Administra¬ 
tion, and the British Ministry of War Transportation, under direction of the Joint and 
Combined Chiefs of Staff. In examining these relationships the author particularizes 
the role of the Chief of Transportation and his corps in the broader picture presented 
in the volumes on Global Logistics and Strategy. 

The work takes up the conflicts of jurisdiction, common to all the technical 
services, which the Chief of Transportation had with Headquarters, Army Service 
Forces, over the issue of centralization of function and control. Also treated are 
disputes with the Army Air Forces, since the exemption of air transport from the 
control of the Transportation Corps made it more difficult for it to ensure prompt and 
uninterrupted deliveries and to enforce traffic priorities. 

In the training and timely deployment of specialist officers and troops the Chief 
of Transportation had special difficulties since neither his office nor the corps had 
been established until three months after Pearl Harbor. The effect of this late start on 
training and procurement was never fully overcome. 

Key topics: 

1. Limitations on the supply of transportation equipment and its mobilization for 
wartime use (Chs. I, III, IV). 

2. Collaboration of the Army and the railways in wartime (Chs. I, III, IV, VIII). 

3. Operation of ports of embarkation and debarkation (Chs. II, III, V). 

4. Control of the flow of military freight traffic in the United States (Chs. IV, V, 
VIII). 

5. Conflict of military and civilian interests (Chs. II, III, IV, VIII). 

6. Inter-Allied shipping control (Ch. II). 

7. International aid; lend-lease (Ch. III). 

8. Security problems in wartime (Chs. I, II, V). 

9. Operation of special troop trains (Ch. I). 

10. Transportation problems involved in furlough travel (Ch. I). 

11. Staging areas and troop staging at ports of embarkation (Chs. II, III, VIII). 

12. Troopships and troopship administration (Ch. II). 

13. Transportation of ammunition and explosives (Ch. V). 

14. Transportation officers, specialists, and troop units; requirements and training 
(Ch. VI). 


THE TECHNICAL SERVICES 


127 


15. Transportation equipment for theaters of operations: requirements and 
procurement (Ch. VII). 

16. Movement of military patients (Chs. I, III). 

17. Handling of prisoners of war (Ch. I). 

18. Movement of soldiers’ dependents (Ch. III). 

19. Repatriation of war dead (Ch. III). 

20. Maintenance and spare parts (Ch. VII). 

21. Research and development (Chs. VII, VIII). 

22. Mounting of amphibious assault forces (Chs. II, V). 

THE TRANSPORTATION CORPS: OPERATIONS OVERSEAS. By Joseph 
Bykofsky and Harold Larson. (1957, 1972, 1990; 671 pages, 3 tables, 7 charts, 12 
maps, 17 illustrations, bibliographical note, glossaries, index, CMH Pub 10-21.) 

Operations Overseas treats the role of the corps in providing transportation for 
American forces and equipment overseas on a large scale, over invasion beaches, in 
ports, and on internal lines of communications by rail, highway, and waterway, since 
indigenous facilities were in most cases inadequate. Employment of local manpower 
and facilities was indispensable, and the authors describe the problems of language, 
labor relations, pilferage, safety, and military security that the corps had to meet under 
widely diverse conditions around the globe. Given a shortage of trained American 
transportation personnel, it had often to rely on untrained service and combat troops, 
while its problems were multiplied by the scarcity of base and storage facilities in the 
Pacific, North Africa, and the Aleutians; by the widespread destruction of ports and 
railroads in Europe; and by long and unsatisfactory lines of communications in North 
Africa and Iran and in the China-Burma-India Theater. Its operations were also 
hampered by the tendency of overseas commands to use oceangoing vessels as 
floating warehouses, which, for example, created massive shipping tie-ups off the 
coast of Normandy and in the Pacific. In Europe the corps had to meet the crisis that 
arose from inadequate provision of heavy motor transport equipment and drivers in 
planning for the invasion of the Continent in 1944, a deficiency that had grave effects 
after the breakout at St. Lo when the rapidly advancing American armies outdistanced 
their supply. 

Key topics: 

1. Railways as bulk carriers in support of military operations in North Africa, 
Sicily, and Italy (Chs. IV, V); in northwestern Europe (Chs. VI, VII, VIII); in the 
Philippines (Ch. X); in Iran (Ch. IX); in Alaska and western Canada (Ch. II); and in 
India and Burma (Ch. XII). 

2. Use of inland waterways to augment available means of transport (Chs. II, VIII, 
IX, XII). 

3. Inter-Allied planning and coordination of movements in theaters, particularly 
in connection with the buildup of U.S. forces in Britain (Ch. Ill); the conduct of 
operations in the Mediterranean (Chs. IV, V); and the planning and execution of the 
cross-Channel invasion (Chs. X, XI). 

4. Utilization of indigenous manpower and facilities, especially in the United 



128 


READER'S GUIDE 


Kingdom (Ch. Ill); the Mediterranean (Chs. IV, V); northwestern Europe (Chs. VI, 
VII, VIII); Iran (Ch. IX); Australia (Ch. X); India and China (Ch. XII). 

5. Control of shipping in unified commands (SWPA and POA) dependent 
primarily on water transportation (Chs. X, XI). 

6. Over-the-beach operations of supply in the Aleutians (Ch. II); the Mediterra¬ 
nean (Chs. IV, V); France (Ch. VI); and the Pacific (Chs. X, XI). 

7. The role of motor transport in providing flexible support for advancing armies 
(Chs. II, IV-X, XII). 

8. Animal transport in Sicily and Italy (Ch. V). 


Special Studies 



























Special Studies 


The nine volumes comprising the special studies topics are grouped together here 
because they do not easily fit into any previously covered subseries. However, the 
reader will find in them a wealth of information on topics that would have profound 
effects on a postwar society, from the birth of the American military industrial 
complex (Buying Aircraft) to social issues (Women’s Army Corps and The Employ¬ 
ment of Negro Troops) that have continued to play a controversial role in the history 
of the Republic. Though not envisioned at the time, many of the seeds of change 
brought on by the Second World War, and which would eventually affect both the 
future military and civilian societies at large, are covered in considerable detail in 
these volumes. 


CHRONOLOGY: 1941-1945. Compiled by MaryH. Williams. (1960,1989; 660 
pages, glossaries, index, CMH Pub 11-1.) 

This massive compilation establishes the sequence of events in World War II from 
the time the first bombs fell on Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941 until the surrender 
of the Japanese aboard the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay on 2 September 1945. A 
reference work to the United States Army in World War II, the volume details the 
tactical events of the war day by day, thus giving the reader a measure of the scope 
of global coalition warfare so that he can begin to grasp the relationship of the 
innumerable parts to the whole. 

This volume emphasizes the ground actions of the U.S. Army in its various 
operations in Africa, Europe, the Middle East, Southeast Asia, the Far East, the 
Pacific, and the Western Hemisphere. Events are related at the appropriate level, 
including battalion and lesser units as well as regiment, division, corps, army, and 
army group. In addition, the combat actions of Army, Air, Navy, and Marine Corps 
units and of British, French, Soviet, and other Allied armed forces, as well as those 
of the enemy, are given in as much detail as space limitations allow. General events 
of historical import also appear in their proper places. 

The value of this well-indexed book is twofold. In one volume the general reader 
and the student of military history have a ready reference to the whole war during that 
period in which the United States participated and can quickly check individual facts 
and dates. In addition, they are able to observe at a glance the progress of the combat 
operations on a global level for any given day or follow the progress of a single unit 
day by day to the conclusion of a specific campaign. 




132 


READER'S GUIDE 


BUYING AIRCRAFT: MATERIEL PROCUREMENT FOR THE ARMY AIR 
FORCES. By Irving Brinton Holley, jr. (1964,1989; 643 pages, 23 tables, 9 charts, 
36 illustrations, 3 appendixes, bibliographical note, glossary, index, CMH Pub 11-2.) 

In the last chapter of Buying Aircraft, I. B. Holley, jr., concludes that the process 
of procuring aircraft for the U.S. Army Air Forces during World War II was as much 
a weapon of war as the fighters, bombers, and guns procured. The author ’ s special ized 
study of aircraft procurement bridges the gap between the larger volumes on industrial 
mobilization and wartime production, such as The Army and Economic Mobilization 
and The Army and Industrial Manpower, and the various volumes in The Technical 
Services subseries that focus on the detailed research, development, and procurement 
of military materiel for the specific combat and service components of the War 
Department. 

The long years of modest aircraft procurements for the Army Air Service and Air 
Corps between the wars adversely affected the growth of the American airframe, 
engine, and components manufacturing industry and discouraged the development of 
assembly line production methods. The Air Corps Act of 1926 further exaggerated 
problems by mandating a set of restrictive procedures that governed military aircraft 
procurement in the following years. When President Franklin D. Roosevelt created 
the first of his large aircraft production targets in November 1938 in response to the 
deteriorating situation in Europe, existing Air Corps studies of industrial mobilization 
were inadequate to handle such a large program. Nevertheless, the aircraft production 
orders that were now expected to flow encouraged aircraft manufacturers to begin 
much-needed plant expansions, and the outbreak of war in Europe in September 1939 
accelerated that trend as foreign orders and Roosevelt’s emerging foreign and national 
security policies stressed American preparedness. The quick defeat of Poland, the 
sudden collapse of France, and the ensuing isolation of Great Britain created a sense 
of national emergency and spurred congressional action that finally removed the 
procurement restrictions in 194CM-1. 

The leaders of the Air Corps struggled from 1939 until Pearl Harbor to resolve its 
key aircraft procurement problems, among them how to define actual requirements for 
air weapons and spares without an accepted air doctrine and reliable attrition figures 
for air combat. Moreover, the evolving U.S. economic mobilization and war 
production structure provided other variables that complicated Air Corps procure¬ 
ment planning and procedures. The final form of aircraft production planning 
emerged only in late 1942 under the War Production Board (WPB) and its various 
aircraft production sections and the Joint Aircraft Committee and its subordinate Air 
Service Unit at Wright Field, Ohio. 

Central to the success of wartime aircraft production was the development of new 
plant capacity through expansion of existing facilities and the building of entirely new 
aircraft plants. After much discussion between the government and aircraft industry, 
most new capacity was completed during 1941 -43 under the auspices of the Defense 
Plant Corporation which built government-owned production and assembly facilities 
for operation by the aircraft and also automobile manufacturers. The large automobile 
companies, which specialized in assembly line mass production, approached produc- 


SPECIAL STUDIES 


133 


tion problems much differently than the aircraft manufacturers who were accustomed 
to job shop production relying on highly skilled workers. Production of B-24s at 
Ford's newly built Willow Run, Michigan, facility tested the automobile industry’s 
approach to aircraft production using special tooling, subassemblies, and semiskilled 
labor. Modification centers were established to make changes and improvements in 
production line aircraft so that serial production would not be disrupted. 

Successful aircraft procurement depended heavily upon the contracting process 
and the subsequent administration of the contracts. During the war the Army Air 
Forces constantly revised its air materiel procurement organization and procedures. 
Procedures for negotiating and administering various types of contracts changed as 
experience was gained in thousands of large and small procurements. The author 
rightly devotes significant coverage to the mundane but critically important aspects 
of contract negotiation and administration and the hard lessons learned in aircraft 
procurement and production during the war. 

Key topics: 

1. The effect of congressionally mandated prewar procurement limitations on the 
development of an efficient aircraft industry that could provide a ready wartime 
productive capacity (Chs. II—VII). 

2. The importance of prewar mobilization planning for effective industrial 
mobilization (Chs. II, V-XIII). 

3. The problems faced in developing realistic prewar requirements for military 
aircraft procurement and production (Chs. VII, X, XI). 

4. The evolution of Armv Air Corps and Air Forces organization for aircraft 
procurement (Chs. IV-VII, XII, XIX). 

5. The role of the government in developing the aircraft plant capacity 7 required 
to sustain the Allied war effort, such as the role of the Defense Plant Corporation, tax- 
amortization policies, and private capital expansion (Chs. VI-VII, XI-XIV). 

6. The role of the automobile industry in manufacturing aircraft during World 
War II (Chs. VII, XIV, XX). 

7. Development of procedures for contract negotiations, administration, and 
termination in aircraft procurements (Chs. XV-XVIII). 

8. Use of cost-plus-fixed-fee (CPFF), fixed-price, and price adjustment con¬ 
tracts for aircraft procurement (Chs. XV-XVII). 

9. Problems of allocation of limited aircraft, airframe, engine, and component 
production capacity between the Army Air Forces and U.S. Navy and within the War 
Department (Chs. XIX, XX). 

10. The roles oftheNational Defense Advisory Commission (NDAC), Office of 
Production Management (OPM), and War Production Board (WPB) in developing 
the policies and procedures for organizing, developing, and administering the nation * s 
productive capacities in general and the aircraft industry in particular (Chs. IX-XTV, 
XIX, XX). 

11. The importance of President Franklin D. Roosevelt in establishing the 
national aircraft production goals and programs during the prewar years (Chs. VII- 
XI). 

12. Statistics for wartime aircraft and engine production (Ch. XX). 


134 


READER’S GUIDE 


CIVIL AFFAIRS: SOLDIERS BECOME GOVERNORS. By Harry L. Coles 
and AlbertK. Weinberg. (1964,1986; 932 pages, map, glossary, 2 indexes, CMH Pub 
11-3.) 


As a documentary history, this volume illustrates the evolution of civil affairs 
policy and practice in the Mediterranean and European Theaters of Operations during 
World War II. It deals with U.S. Army and Anglo-American planning and operations 
in the sphere of relations with civilians in certain liberated and conquered countries 
in Europe during the war, prior to the invasion of Germany. Although the Army had 
not considered civil affairs preparation essential prior to World War II, during the war 
it created the Civil Affairs Division at the War Department level to coordinate all civil 
affairs planning and training. For the first time, extensive recruiting and training 
programs were organized, and G-5 (civil affairs and military government) staff 
sections were added at the theater army, corps, and division levels. 

Not only did soldiers become the administrators of civilian life for the Army’s 
immediate needs, they also became the executors, and sometimes the proposers, of 
national and international political policy. This broader role was the result of the 
inability of the Allies to agree on specific political aims until after active hostilities 
were over, if then. In this policy void, U.S. and British military authorities were often 
responsible for the gradual transition to a postwar national and international order 
with only general guidelines from higher authorities. 

The materials presented in Part I, concerned with the preparatory and organiza¬ 
tional stage, suggest that the President’s decision to entrust the civil affairs respon¬ 
sibility to the Army was because civilian authorities were unready to undertake the 
mission. Documents in Part II show the difficulties of fitting civilian institutions into 
the context of battle and a military framework, thus indicating additional rationale for 
leaving military authorities in exclusive control. Part III reveals that, despite this 
experience. Allied authorities planning for the liberated countries of northwest 
Europe still proposed to delegate civil affairs to indigenous civilian authorities, 
insofar as was possible. Operations are dealt with in Part IV, which show that 
conditions during and immediately following hostilities made it necessary for the 
Allies to render these authorities substantial assistance in the area of civil affairs. The 
compilation of documents appear to make it clear that the issue of military-versus- 
civilian administration was far less important than the issue of military values versus 
civil-political values, and it was in the latter area that the most serious difficulties arose. 

Key topics: 

1. Arguments over civilian or military control of civil affairs (Ch. I). 

2. Civilian civil affairs activities in French North Africa and gradual military 
involvement (Ch. II). 

3. Creation of a military organization to undertake civil affairs activities (Chs. Ill— 
VI). 

4. Military govemment/civil affairs operations in Italy (Chs. VII-XXI). 

5. Planning for civil affairs operations in Europe (Chs. XXII-XXIV). 

6. Military govemment/civil affairs operations in western Europe (Chs. XXV- 
XXXII). 


SPECIAL STUDIES 


135 


THE EMPLOYMENT OF NEGRO TROOPS. By Ulysses Lee. (1966, 1986, 
1990; 740 pages, 12 tables, 5 maps, 38 illustrations, bibliographical note, glossary, 
index, CMH Pub 11-^4.) 

By the time Japan surrendered in 1945, some 700,000 black Americans, almost 
10 percent of the total force, were serving in segregated Army units throughout the 
world. Yet, as this volume makes clear, segregation presented insurmountable 
impediments to the efficient training and employment of this significant segment of 
U.S. strength and its debilitating effect on the morale of black troops constantly 
threatened their usefulness. A war that began with black Americans demanding that 
their right to fight included complete integration of black servicemen into the armed 
forces, a prime aim of the nascent American civil rights movement. 

The Employment of Negro Troops examines in detail the Army ’ s prewar planning 
for the use of black soldiers that was based on its perceptions of segregated troops in 
World War I. But its plans for the carefully restricted use of a limited number of black 
soldiers were radically transformed by the great influx of black draftees produced by 
the nondiscrimination clause of the Selective Service Act of 1940 and by pressures 
brought to bear on an administration generally disposed to accommodate the growing 
power of the black voter. Much of this pressure was focused on the War Department 
through the efforts of the Special Aide to the Secretary of War on Negro Affairs, Judge 
William H. Hastie. Appropriately in a volume whose subject transcends the usual 
considerations of military manpower, Hastie’s demands are thoroughly evaluated and 
contrasted with those of his successors. 

The volume also analyzes in detail the recruitment of blacks, many unskilled and 
undereducated, and the challenge of transforming them into soldiers for an Army that 
for the most part resisted their presence, questioned their competence, and clearly 
intended to use almost all of them as unskilled laborers and service troops. It also 
examines the Army’s continuing problem in developing suitable leaders for segre¬ 
gated units. Commanders were most often assigned because of their supposed 
understanding of blacks (southerners) or because they had failed to make the grade 
elsewhere. Black officers, on the other hand, were given only limited command 
responsibility. Prejudice and racial stereotyping tended to destroy their morale and 
kept many from achieving their leadership potential. By midwar, poor leadership, 
underutilization, and low morale had combined with the severe discrimination 
suffered by black soldiers both in the military and civilian community to spark 
widespread racial violence, what the author calls the “Harvest of Disorder.” 

The task of bringing the Army more closely into line with its announced policy 
of separate-but-equal treatment fell to Assistant Secretary of War John J. McCloy, 
operating through the Advisory Committee on Negro Troop Policies. Working 
closely with Chief of Staff General George C. Marshall, McCloy and his committee 
succeeded in winning assignments for black units in the overseas theaters. Eventually 
two black infantry divisions as well as a number of separate tank, tank destroyer, and 
artillery battalions and combat support units saw action. At the same time the highly 
publicized “Tuskegee Airmen,” and other black air units were trained and deployed 
in the war against the Germans. The majority of black soldiers, however, continued 



136 


READER'S GUIDE 


to be employed in service units around the world, performing important duties but 
ones that tended to reinforce old stereotypes about blacks as soldiers. 

The integration of black infantry platoons in the divisions along the European 
battlefront was important as a sign of future change and merits special attention in this 
volume. Smashing a favorite segregationist argument, the performance of these units 
was free of any racial problems. Their competence, along with that of thousands of 
other black soldiers, portended the racial transformation of the Army into a fully 
integrated force just six years later. 

Key topics: 

1. Army racial policies, 1920^45 (Chs. I, II). 

2. Organization and training of black troops (Chs. V, IX). 

3. Racial violence in the Army (Chs. IV, VIII, XII, XV). 

4. Black women in the Army (Ch. XIV). 

5. The deployment and operations of black air units (Ch. XVI). 

6. Physical fitness of minority soldiers (Ch. X). 

7. Effect of morale on military performance (Ch. XI). 

8. Selective Service and military manpower policy (Ch. XIV). 


MILITARY RELATIONS BETWEEN THE UNITED STATES AND CANADA: 
1939 - 1945 . By Stanley W. Dziuban. (1959,1974,1990; 432 pages, 7 tables, 1 chart, 
1 map, 14 illustrations, 5 appendixes, bibliographical note, glossary, index, CMH Pub 
11-5.) 


This volume records the military cooperation between the United States and 
Canada during World War II. Diplomatic discussions and negotiations figure 
prominently in this record, not only as the prelude and basis for joint military plans 
and efforts, but also in resolving a wide variety of problems incident to those joint 
efforts that had a political impact. 

Originating when the low ebb of British fortunes in the Battle of Britain 
confronted both the United States and Canada with what seemed an imminent threat 
to an unprepared continent, cooperation was at first directed to preparation for a 
coordinated defensive deployment of forces and materiel. Once the safety of the 
United Kingdom was assured, collaboration largely took the form of measures to 
facilitate the use by the United States of the geographical, industrial, and military 
potential of Canada as part of the North American base supporting Allied efforts on 
the battlefronts of Europe and the Pacific. 

Pushing his study into the postwar period, the author also describes the “roll-up” 
of the extensive United States deployments, facilities, and supply stockades in 
Canada. Hethen describes the revitalization of the wartime military cooperation with 
the outbreaks of the Cold War by 1947. 

Key topics: 

1. Conduct of bipartite international military cooperation by means of a politico- 
military board of two coordinate sections (Ch. II). 

2. Command structure requirements, in a framework of bilateral cooperation, to 


SPECIAL STUDIES 


137 


assure adequate military responsibility and authority (Chs. IV, V, VII, VIII). 

3. Factors bearing on the defense of North America in a conventional war (Ch. 
IV). 

4. Development of strategic plans and deployments for joint defense of northern 
North America (Chs. IV, V). 

5. Difficulties attending the development of military bases in arctic North 
America (Chs. VI, VII, VIII). 

6. Problems—political, legal, economic, and psychological—incident to large- 
scale deployments on friendly foreign soil remote from the combat zone (Chs. VII, 
VIII, XI). 

7. Psychological problems of a big nation-small nation partnership in joint 
defense (Chs. Ill, VIII, XI). 

8. Organization, equipment, training, and employment of an integrated binational 
force (the First Special Service Force) (Ch. IX). 

9. Problems presented to a host government by the great complexity ofU.S. Army 
and Navy organizational structure in Canada (Ch. V). 

10. Funding, constructing, and operating base facilities for joint defense (Chs. 
VIII, XI, XII). 

11. Friendly foreign forces and questions of civil and criminal jurisdiction (Ch. 

XI). 

12. Control of air traffic and of military bases by friendly foreign forces (Ch. XI). 

13. Disposition of logistical facilities constructed by friendly forces on foreign 
territory (Ch. XII). 

14. Coordination of war production and economic mobilization (Ch. III). 

15. The Destroyer-Base Agreement of 1940: 

a. Its relation to the initiation of U.S.-Canadian military collaboration (Ch. I). 

b. The impact of the agreement and U.S.-Canadian military collaboration on 
the relationship of Newfoundland to the Dominion of Canada (Chs. I, V, VII). 


REARMING THE FRENCH. By Marcel Vigneras. (1957,1986,1989; 444 pages, 
5 tables, 6 charts, 1 map, 45 illustrations, bibliographical note, glossaries, index, 
CMHPub 11-6.) 

This volume tells how the French ground, naval, and air forces available for use 
against the Axis from mid-1941 to the end of World War II were rearmed, trained, and 
committed to combat. The narrative focuses on the part played by the United States, 
especially by the War Department and the U.S. Army, since the commitment, while 
shared with the British, was largely American, and the rearmed units generally fought 
as part of larger American commands. 

The undertaking was only one of many such American assistance efforts and not 
the greatest in terms of the volume of equipment involved. More American resources, 
for example, went to the USSR, the United Kingdom, and China (see Global Logistics 
and Strategy for these). But in the case of the French the forces receiving aid were 
emerging outside their national home base and therefore lacked the logistical support 


138 


READER'S GUIDE 


normally provided by a zone of interior. In this and in other respects the French effort 
was thus a unique experience. 

The volume’s “Prologue” provides a brief review, with pertinent statistics, of the 
assistance similarly extended by France to an unprepared America in 1917-18. But the 
dramatis personae of the World War II story are the American President, the British 
Prime Minister, and their civilian advisers; the Joint and Combined Chiefs of Staff, 
the War Department General Staff, the Army Service Forces, and the agencies charged 
with direct responsibility for rearming and training the French; and finally the officials 
of the French High Command and French governmental authorities. 

The controversy over the timing and extent of rearmament, in which the 
American, British, and French authorities were involved long before the Allied 
landings in North Africa and for months afterward, is one of the major themes of the 
book. The author deals with the establishment and implementation of the successive 
rearmament programs concurrently with the evolution of the decisions that made them 
possible. The programs aimed at rehabilitation of the forces raised in North Africa 
(Prologue, Chs. I—III, V-VII, IX) and in metropolitan France (Chs. XVIII-XXI), and 
included the air force (Chs. XII, XXII), the navy (Chs. XIII, XXII), and Sovereignty 
and Territorial forces (Chs. VII, IX). The part played by the United States in the 
Anglo-American effort to support the Resistance forces is also described (Ch. 
XVIII). 

Rearming the French also describes in detail the organization, role, and activities 
of the various agencies involved in French rearmament and training: the Joint 
Rearmament Committee (Ch. XVII), the Joint Air Commission (Ch. XVII), the 
Rearmament Division of SHAEF (Ch. XXIII), and the French Training Section (Chs. 
XVII, XXIII). Also discussed are two major problems that were a source of 
continuing concern for the Allied high command: the difficulties encountered by the 
French in establishing a sound supply system of their own and the resultant persistent 
shortage of French service troops (Chs. VII-X, XX). Another was the training of the 
rearmed units (Chs. XIV, XXIII). 

Key topics: 

1. French political developments affecting the course of rearmament operations, 
in particular the tug of war between Giraud and de Gaulle (Chs. V, VI, IX) and the 
Stuttgart and north Italy incidents (Ch. XXI). 

2. The part played by rearmed French units in combat operations (Ch. XI). 

3. The abortive French attempt to organize and equip forces for the liberation of 
Indochina (Ch. XXIV). 

4. The effect of Franco-American political relations (Ch. IX). 

5. The language barrier (Ch. XIV). 

6. Differences in national customs, food habits, and clothing sizes (Ch. XVI). 

7. Requirements for liaison, armament, and training personnel (Ch. XIV). 

8. Procedures for assignment and delivery of equipment (Chs. I, XX). (For a 
treatment at greater length, see both volumes of Global Logistics and Strategy.) 

9. Surplus stocks and equipment shortages (Chs. VIII, X). 

10. Control over rearmed units (Ch. IX). 

11. Special supplies and miscellaneous equipment (Ch. XVI). 


SPECIAL STUDIES 


139 


THREE BATTLES: ARNAVILLE, ALTUZZO, AND SCHMIDT. By Charles 
B. MacDonald and Sidney T. Mathews. (1952, 1989, 1991; 443 pages, 44 maps, 44 
illustrations, order ofbattle, bibliographical note, glossaries, index, CMH Pub 11-7.) 

The three engagements presented in this book are described in detail to illustrate 
the nature of battle in Europe during World War II at the small-unit level. They 
supplement the campaign histories of the European and Mediterranean Theaters of 
Operations where the amount of small-unit material that can be included in a history 
is limited by the large size of the forces that have to be followed. In these three studies 
a microscope is applied, so to speak, to actions which either have been or will be 
related, minus the detail of these presentations, in the campaign histories of those 
theaters. 

The three battles here described were selected not for their importance but for two 
other reasons. One was the availability of information, including contemporary 
interviews, which would permit the author to maintain the small-unit level through 
an entire operation or to a natural conclusion. The other was a desire for actions in 
which the role of arms and services other than infantry could be presented in a variety 
of tactical situations. Each study therefore provides an opportunity to examine the 
interplay of small parts on an actual battlefield. 

The first of the three, “River Crossing at Amaville,” is an account of two 
attempts to establish bridgeheads across the Moselle River near Metz, France, in 
September 1944: one a failure, the other a success. Two infantry regiments of the 5th 
Division and a combat command of the 7th Armored Division were the major units 
engaged. “Break-Through at Monte Altuzzo” describes a successful but arduous 
attempt by elements of a regiment of the 85th Infantry Division to penetrate the Giogo 
Pass in the Appenines, also in September 1944. “Objective: Schmidt” is primarily 
the story of the 112th Infantry of the 28th Division in an unsuccessful operation 
against the village of Schmidt within the Huertgen Forest in Germany in 1944. 

The narrative in each case goes down from regiments, battalions, and companies 
to platoons, squads, and individuals. The story of higher headquarters and of high- 
level communications and decisions is related only as necessary for an understanding 
of the operations of these lower units. Attention is focused on the problems and 
achievements of soldiers and officers of small units on the battlefield. 

The tactical framework of the three studies is varied: a river crossing, mountain 
warfare, and forest and village fighting. Accounts are included of most of the normal 
offensive and defensive assignments to be expected of infantry units under these 
tactical conditions. Detail is sufficient in text and maps for study of all three actions 
as case histories with little or no recourse to additional material. 

In addition to the overall accounts, fairly complete instructional examples may be 
obtained on a number of subjects, including the following: 

1. Inadequate intelligence (Amaville, Ch. I; Altuzzo, Chs. I, II; Schmidt, Ch. III). 

2. Poor command coordination (Amaville, Ch. I; Altuzzo, Ch. II). 

3. Smoking operations to conceal bridge-building activity (Amaville, Ch. III). 

4. Employment of artillery against fixed defensive works (Amaville, Ch. I). 

5. Engineers in role of infantry (Schmidt, Chs. IV-VII). 


140 


READER'S GUIDE 


6. Engineer bridging operations (Amaville, Ch. III). 

7. Communications failures (Altuzzo, Ch. II). 

8. Erroneous messages and situation reports (Altuzzo, Chs. I—III; Schmidt, Chs. 

v-vi). 

9. Organization of a deliberate defensive position (German) (Altuzzo, Ch. I). 

10. Supply problems (Amaville, Ch. I; Altuzzo and Schmidt, passim). 

11. Methods of counterattack (German) (Amaville, Ch. I; Altuzzo, Chs. II, V; 
Schmidt, Chs. III-VI). 

12. Inadequate security (Schmidt, Chs. II—VI). 

13. Tanks and tank destroyers inclose support (Amaville, Chs. Ill, IV; Schmidt, 
Chs. III-VI). 

14. Panic (Amaville, Ch. II; Altuzzo, Chs. II, III; Schmidt, Chs. Ill, V, VI). 
Other general subject areas found throughout the work include: morale, misdi¬ 
rected artillery fire, attempts by tactical air to isolate a local battlefield, close support 
artillery, reluctance of the individual to fire, combat fatigue, loss of direction, 
patrolling, medical evacuation, propaganda leaflets, personnel replacements, equip¬ 
ment shortages, tank-infantry coordination, tanks in an antitank role, and employment 
of armor under adverse conditions of weather and terrain. 


THE WOMEN’S ARMY CORPS. By Mattie E. Treadwell. (1954, 1985, 1991; 
841 pages, 13 tables, 2 charts, 97 illustrations, 5 appendixes, bibliographical note, 
glossary, index, CMH Pub 11-8.) 

This comprehensive and detailed record of the wartime Women’s Army Corps 
(WAC) is the first full-dress official history prepared about a corps of women in the 
military service of any nation. Although the work is pitched at the policy and planning 
level, ratherthan at the hundreds ofindividual units that made up the WAC, the author 
has managed to include many samplings of the ordinary female soldier’s routine 
duties and reactions—enough to give the reader a real sense of what life was like for 
a woman in the Army and what it was like for the Army to have women in it. 

The spotlight is often focused on WAC headquarters and on its wartime head, Col. 
Oveta Culp Hobby. Her efforts to make the WAC a going and useful concern were 
sometimes handicapped by the confusion that existed in the field and on occasion even 
in Washington about the extent of her authority and responsibilities as Director, 
WAC. Nevertheless, the chronological account of the establishment and conduct of 
the W omen ’ s Army Corps is considerably amplified by a topical discussion of various 
aspects of the Army’s problems in employing womanpower. 

The WAC at its peak strength of 100,000 constituted an enviably large group for 
study. Because of its around-the-clock control of personnel, the Army had access to 
information not easily obtainable by business or industry. Its discoveries in general 
appear valid and reliable, not only for militarized groups, but for most nonmilitary 
institutions or businesses which train or employ women. The observations on health, 
fatigue, accident rates, and psychological patterns, as well as the discoveries in the 
fields of training, housing, clothing, feeding, and disciplining groups of women, offer 



SPECIAL STUDIES 


141 


valuable insights, including heretofore unpublished statistics, in the social history of 
the Army. 

Part One, “The Organization and Growth of a Women’s Corps,” covers the 
origin (Ch. I) and establishment (Ch. II) of the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps, the 
struggles of the first year (Chs. Ill—XI), the conversion and integration into the Army 
(Chs. XII, XIV), attempts to revive recruiting (Ch. XIII), and the removal of the 
Director’s Office to the G-l (personnel) Division (Ch. XV). Part Two, “World-Wide 
Employment,” begins with the account of the employment of women in the Army’s 
three major commands: the Army Air Forces (Ch. XVI), the Army Ground Forces 
(Ch. XVII), and the Army Service Forces (Ch. XVIII). The next chapter (Ch. XIX) 
describes their employment in the Medical Department’s Auxiliary Service Force 
(ASF). The succeeding three chapters describe the WACs in overseas theaters: the 
Mediterranean theater, including North Africa (Ch. XX); the European theater (Ch. 
XXI); the Southwest Pacific Area (Ch. XXII); and other overseas theaters (Ch. 
XXIII). The Office of the Director, WAC, is discussed in the last chapter (XXIV). 

Part Three, “War Department Policy Concerning the Women’s Army Corps,” 
deals with legal, social, and moral problems (Ch. XXV); housing, food, and clothing 
(Ch. XXVI); the employment of personnel: enlisted women (Ch. XXVII), officers 
(Ch. XXVIII), overseas shipment (Ch. XXIX), and minority groups (Ch. XXX); 
health and medical care (Ch. XXXI); training (Ch. XXXII); the leadership of women 
(Ch. XXXIII); and recruiting and publicity (Ch. XXXIV). 

Part Four, “Last Days of the Wartime WAC,” describes the WACs in the closing 
months of the war (Ch. XXXV) and in the throes of demobilization (Ch. XXXVI). The 
title of the final chapter is self-explanatory: “Evaluation and Recommendations.” 

Women’s services, other than the WAC, discussed in this volume are the following: 

1. Air Wacs (see Index: also under “Army Air Forces”). 

2. Army Nurse Corps (see Index). 

3. British women’s services (see Index: “Auxiliary Territorial Services,” and 
App. B). 

4. Canadian women’s services (see Index). 

5. Women’s service in the U.S. Coast Guard (see Index: “SPARS”). 

6. WASP (see Index: “Women Air Service Pilots,” and App. D). 

7. WAVES (see Index: “Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service”). 

8. WIRES (see Index: “Women in Radio and Electrical Service”). 

9. Women’s Reserve, Marine Corps (see Index). 

10. WOWs (see Index: “Women Ordnance Workers”). 


MANHATTAN: THE ARMY AND THE ATOMIC BOMB. By Vincent C. Jones. 
(1985, 1988; 660 pages, 7 maps, 3 tables, 5 charts, 93 illustrations, appendix, 
bibliographical note, glossaries, index, CMH Pub 11-10.) 

This volume describes the U.S. Army’s key role in the formation and administra¬ 
tion of the Manhattan Project, the World War II organization which produced the 




142 


READER'S GUIDE 


atomic bomb that contributed significantly to ending the conflict with Japan and 
marked the beginning of the postwar atomic era. It relates how the Army, starting in 
1939, became increasingly involved in the research activities initiated by American 
and refugee scientists into the military potentialities of atomic energy, spurred on by 
the conviction that the Axis powers already had under way programs for the 
development of atomic weapons. With the United States entry into the war after the 
attack on Pearl Harbor (1941) as an active participant, America’s wartime leaders took 
immediate measures to expand the research and industrial efforts required to develop 
atomic weapons. To administer this enlarged program, they turned to the Army as the 
organization best suited to cope with its special security, priority, manpower, and 
other problems in an economy geared to all-out war production. 

The Army took over the atomic bomb program in the early summer of 1942. By 
that time much of the basic scientific research and development prerequisite to 
building the plants and testing the methods for weapon design and production had 
been completed. To form and oversee an atomic bomb construction and production 
organization, the Army turned to its own Corps of Engineers, with a long and 
distinguished history of supervising large-scale building projects. The corps re¬ 
sponded to its newly assigned task by adopting organizational procedures used on all 
its major construction projects. It set up a new engineer “district” under the 
command of a district engineer, who temporarily established his headquarters in the 
facilities of the corps’ division engineer in New York City. For reasons of security 
the new district’s project was designated the Laboratory for Development of Substi¬ 
tute Materials (DSM), but unofficially became known as the Manhattan District 
because of its New York location. 

This history of the Manhattan Project takes a broadly chronological approach but 
with topical treatment of detailed developments. The focus of the narrative is from 
the vantage point of the Manhattan Project organization, as it functioned under the 
direction of Maj. Gen. Leslie R. Groves and such key scientific administrators as 
Vannevar Bush, James B. Conant, Arthur Compton, and J. Robert Oppenheimer, 
responding to policies originating at the top levels of the wartime leadership. The 
volume begins with a prologue designed to provide the reader with a brief survey of 
the history of atomic energy, explaining in layman’s terms certain technical aspects 
of atomic science. 

The remainder of the book takes the reader through the turnover of the project 
administration to the Army and the beginnings of the atomic age. Discussion of 
technological problems and issues are presented in nontechnical prose. This volume 
ends where it began with the project being transferred back to civilian control. 

Key topics: 

1. The history and theoretical basis of atomic science before the outbreak of 
World War II (Prologue). 

2. The contributions during World War II of civilian scientific agencies, such as 
the National Defense Research Committee (NDRC) and the Office of Scientific 
Research and Development (OSRD), to the program for design and manufacture of 
an atomic bomb (Ch. I). 

3. How the Army successfully organized and administered several projects that 


SPECIAL STUDIES 


143 


enabled American industry to build and operate massive production facilities 
essential to the making of atomic bombs (Chs. Ill, IV, Part II). 

4. The technical problems involved in the production of fissionable materials 
(uranium and plutonium) for use in atomic weapons (Part II). 

5. The difficulties and complexities of interchanging scientific information and 
personnel among Allies in wartime as exhibited in the collaboration between the 
United States and Great Britain on atomic matters in World War II (Ch. X). 

6. The special problems of designing and managing a project-wide security 
system based upon the principle of compartmentalization of information (Ch. XI). 

7. The planning, building, and administering of new communities for civilian war 
workers and military personnel serving at atomic installations in Oak Ridge, 
Tennessee; Richland-Hanford, Washington; and Los Alamos, New Mexico (Chs. 
XXI-XXIII). 

8. The essential elements for interservice collaboration as exhibited by the leaders 
of the Manhattan Project and the Army Air Forces in the strategical and tactical 
planning and the on-site preparations for the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and 
Nagasaki, Japan, in August (Ch. XXVI). 











































Pictorial Record 















Pictorial Record 


In the narrative volumes of the United States Army in World War II series, it is 
possible to include only a limited number of the thousands of pictures taken by 
photographers of the U.S. armed forces. The Pictorial Record, a subseries of three 
volumes, has therefore been compiled to show in greater detail the conditions under 
which the combat forces lived, the methods by which they were trained, the weapons 
they and their opponents used, the terrain over which they fought, and the support they 
received from the technical branches of the U.S. Army, the U.S. Army Air Forces, and 
the U.S. Navy. 

Two volumes of the subseries deal with the war against the European Axis and 
the third covers the war in the Pacific and in the China-Burma-India Theater. Each 
volume is arranged in sections that follow the course of the war chronologically; the 
written text has been kept to a minimum, each section having a brief introduction 
recounting the major events covered therein. The three volumes together give a 
comprehensive pictorial survey of the U.S. Army’s operations in Africa, Europe, the 
Middle East, Southeast Asia, the Far East, and the Pacific. 

THE WAR AGAINST GERMANY AND ITALY: MEDITERRANEAN AND 
ADJACENT AREAS. (1951,1988; 465 pages, 5 maps, 495 illustrations, glossary, 
index, CMH Pub 12-2.) 

This volume deals with operations in North Africa, the Middle East, Sicily, 
Corsica, Sardinia, the Italian mainland, and southern France. 

THE WAR AGAINST GERMANY: EUROPE AND ADJACENT AREAS. 

(1951,1989; 448 pages, 7 maps, 568 illustrations, glossary, index, CMH Pub 12-3.) 

Covered in this volume are the buildup in the United Kingdom, the air offensive 
in Europe, and the Normandy, Northern France, Rhineland, Ardennes-Alsace, and 
Central Europe Campaigns. 

THE WAR AGAINST JAPAN. (1952,1988; 471 pages, 13 maps, 566 illustrations, 
glossary, index, CMH Pub 12-1.) 

Here are depicted training in Hawaii, Australia, and New Caledonia; defeat in the 
Philippines; the campaigns in the Solomons, New Guinea, New Britain, the Admi¬ 
ralties, the Aleutians, the Gilberts, the Marshalls,and the Marianas; the return to the 
Philippines, Iwo Jima, and Okinawa; and the operation of the supply line to China 
through Burma and India. 














































World War II Sources 


The volumes produced in the United States Army in World War II series represent 
one of the most ambitious historical writing projects ever conducted. Popularly 
known as the “Green Books,” the series itself constitutes but a fraction of the 
historical material available on World War II. A broad foundation of records and 
recollections, carefully documented and annotated in the footnotes of each volume, 
supports the entire series, but even the vast amount of documents referenced cover 
only the activities of the U.S. Army in rather broad terms. For any detailed study of 
a particular aspect of the Army in World War II a researcher has more than 17,000 tons 
of Army records produced during the war years with which to contend, as well as a 
huge volume of prewar records which provide essential background to events taking 
place during the war. 

Beyond Army records there are Navy, Air Force, and Marine Corps records which 
document their participation in the war, as well as those of other government agencies. 
Obviously a historian can eliminate large segments of official records simply based 
on the topic of inquiry. If the focus is strategy, then only the records of the highest 
levels will be of interest; if, however, the focus is on particular military operations, 
then the records of the participating units will be the primary sources of information. 
Additional primary documentation can be found in personal diaries and memoirs of 
the leading participants in the war, which often go beyond the official records in 
presenting details of how and why decisions on the conduct of the war were made. 
Whether one has been a student of the war for some time or is simply interested in a 
specific aspect of the war, the following information is thus no more than a limited 
introduction to the wealth of source material available. 

RECORDS SUPPORTING THE UNITED STATES ARMY 
IN WORLD WAR II 

The records and documents collected and used by the historians who researched 
and wrote the individual volumes in the series are located in a variety of collections. 
Each of the volumes has a brief bibliographic note which outlines the sources used in 
the preparation of that volume and where they may be found. After each volume was 
written and published the notes, working drafts, and documents retained by the 
author(s) were gathered together and retired to the National Archives and Records 
Administration (NARA) in Washington, D.C. Sources noted in a volume as being at 
the U.S. Army Center of Military History (CMH) in Washington, D.C., have 
generally been transferred to the collections at NARA. 

Unpublished historical manuscripts prepared by Headquarters, War Department 
agencies; Army Service Forces; Technical Services; Army Ground Forces; and 




150 


READER'S GUIDE 


Army commands located in the continental United States and in the theaters of 
operations are on file at CMH. Microfilm copies of these documents are also on file 
in the library of the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College at Fort 
Leavenworth, Kansas. 

Documents with the War Department decimal prefaced by Misc., E1RC, or GEOG 
are part of the Historical Records Collection at CMH. Transcripts of interviews 
conducted by the author(s) while researching are located both at the U.S. Army 
Military History Institute (MHI) at Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania, and in the 
Military Reference Branch, Textual Reference Division, ofNARA. Diaries cited in 
the volumes may be in a variety of places. Some are at MHI, others at CMH, and still 
others were returned to private owners. 

Official records created by Headquarters, War Department agencies; the Supreme 
Headquarters, American Expeditionary Forces; the Army Service Forces; and the 
Army Ground Forces will be found in the Military Reference Branch, Textual 
Reference Division, ofNARA. Official records created by Army commands within 
the continental United States and the Army Technical Services and World War II 
operational reports are in the Suitland Reference Branch, Textual Reference Division, 
ofNARA. 

Official photographs and posters from all the services including the Army are on 
file in the Still Picture Branch, Special Archives Division, ofNARA. Official Army 
motion picture films and sound records are in the Motion Picture, Sound, and Video 
Branch, Special Archives Division, ofNARA. NARA also has reproduced some of 
the motion pictures in video tape format and maintains special collections of many of 
the commercial motion pictures which deal with World War II. 

Army maps, charts, blueprints, aerial photographs, posters, and architectural 
drawings of fortifications, U.S. government buildings in and around Washington, 
D.C., and some buildings on Army installations are filed with the Cartographic 
Architectural Branch, Special Archives Division, ofNARA in Washington, D.C. 

Official personnel records for all members of the Army are at the National 
Personnel Records Center in St. Louis, Missouri. Unfortunately, about 85 percent of 
the records were destroyed in a fire at the center in 1973. Alternative sources of 
information on individuals who served in the Army in World War II include the 
General Accounting Office pay vouchers filed in the National Personnel Records 
Center; Selective Service records in the Regional Archives Division of the Federal 
Records Centers; the courts-marshal records from the Clerk of the Court, Army 
Judiciary, in Falls Church, Virginia; the Veterans Administration in Washington, 
D.C.; and in the records of state adjutants general and county and municipal governments. 

Personal papers and related material of senior leaders not found in the institutions 
may be found at MHI. In addition special collections, such as the Eisenhower or 
MacArthur libraries, contain extensive archives on the participation of the more 
notable American leaders in World War II. 

There are also large collections of unit histories, of widely varying lengths, at 
MHI, CMH, and other military libraries. CMH also holds a number of collections of 
historical material prepared or gathered by CMH historians in the course of preparing 
the Green Books. 


WORLD WAR II SOURCES 


151 


OFFICIAL HISTORIES 

The Green Books of the United States Army in World War II constitute the official 
history of the U.S. Army. The series was published by the Government Printing 
Office, and individual volumes are still available from that agency. While the other 
services do not have anything directly comparable to the Green Books, each has 
produced or sponsored a service history which covers World War II. 

The Navy ’ s semiofficial history of the war was written under an arrangement with 
Samuel Eliot Morison, at the time professor of history at Harvard University. His 
History of Naval Operations in World War II, published by Boston’s Little, Brown 
and Company in fifteen volumes, is based primarily on official records. The activities 
ofthe Air Force are covered in The Army Air Forces in World War II, edited by Wesley 
Frank Craven and James Lea Cate. The multivolume series was originally published 
by the University of Chicago Press and is now available through the Government 
Printing Office. A five-volume History of U.S. Marine Corps Operations in World 
War II has also been published by the Government Printing Office. 

A number of other Allied participants in World War II have also produced 
multivolume official histories of their own that are widely available in the United 
States. The British History of the Second World War series was edited by J. R. M. 
Butler and published by Her Majesty’s Stationer}' Office. Australian participation 
in the war is covered in Australia in the War of1939-1945; the Official History’ of the 
Canadian Army was published by the Queen’s Printer and Controller of Stationary; 
and Bisheshwar Prarad edited the Official History of the Indian Armed Forces in the 
Second World War 1939-45, which was prepared under the auspices of the Combined 
Inter-Services Historical Section (India and Pakistan). The Official History of New 
Zealand in the Second World War 1939-1945 was published by the Government 
Printer of New Zealand. Multi volume official histories of the war are either under 
way or have been published in France (Service Historique de l’Armee); the Federal 
Republic of Germany (Militaergeschichtliches Forschungsamt); and in the former 
Soviet Union, although its historians have not yet been able to produce an agreed-upon 
version. 

FOREIGN RECORDS 

Official German war records held by the United States after World War II have 
been returned to Germany, but microfilm copies are still held at NARA and are 
available to researchers. NARA also holds over two thousand manuscripts written by 
German authors under the auspices of the U.S. Army. These are cataloged and 
indexed in the Guide to Foreign Military Studies 1945-54, a collection maintained by 
the Military Reference Branch, Textual Reference Division, ofNARA. 

Information on German operations in World War II is also available in a series of 
monographs prepared by CMH German-language qualified historians. These authors 
based their studies on official German records captured or seized during the war and 
on the postwar manuscripts cited above. These manuscripts are available at CMH and 
MHI. 



152 


READER'S GUIDE 


French records available on microfilm from NARA’s Military Reference Branch 
include a nearly complete collection of daily journals, situation reports, and opera¬ 
tions orders for all French divisions, corps, and higher headquarters. These docu¬ 
ments are supplemented with large numbers of French Army plans, reports, special 
studies, and other records and information provided by the Service Historique de 
FArmee. 

The Japanese record of World War II is not as complete as the German, but there 
are still considerable sources of material. One series of monographs was prepared 
after the war by former Japanese Army and Navy officers under the supervision of the 
Historical Section of the Far East Command in Tokyo. These studies, covering a wide 
variety of war-related topics, are available at CMH. The Far East Command also 
assembled a collection of Imperial General Headquarters directives and orders for 
the wartime period. NARA also holds a microfilm collection of records of the 
Japanese Army and Navy Ministries dating from the turn of the century which were 
seized by U.S. authorities after the war. The original records have been returned to 
the government of Japan. The largest number of foreign military records are, of 
course, to be found in the country of origin. 

JOURNALS AND SECONDARY SOURCES 

Many articles have appeared in military professional journals both during and 
after World War II which cover a wide variety of topics. Prominent among the 
American periodicals are the United States Naval Institute Proceedings, Army (and 
its predecessors, Combat Forces Journal and the Infantry Journal), Military Review, 
and Marine Corps Gazette ; these are supplemented by such publications as the British 
Journal of the Royal Service Institute and the French Revue Historique de laDeuxieme 
Guerre Mondiale. Unfortunately these periodicals are not usually indexed in the 
Reader’s Guide to Periodical Literature, although some use can be made of the 
National Defense Review issued from 1947 to 1955 by the Army Library at the 
Pentagon and the Air University Periodical Index of the Air University Library, 
Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama. 

Almost all public, academic, and military libraries have large sections of 
secondary works devoted to the history of the Second World War. The most 
comprehensive guides to these works are World War II: Books in English, 1945-65, 
compiled by Janet Ziegler and published in 1971 by the Hoover Institution Press in 
Stanford, California, and a supplement published by the American Committee on the 
History of the Second World War in pamphlet form entitled^ Select Bibliography of 
Books on the Second World War in English Published in the United States, 1966- 
1975. Yet interest in World War II remains intense, and the continued outpouring of 
articles, books, dissertations, and even memoirs on the conflict makes the creation of 
even semidefinitive bibliographical guides exceedingly difficult. 


Index 


Aachen, reduction of, 70, 79 
Abadan refinery, 90 
ABC-1 Conference, 7 
Administration 

central, for supply operations, 10 
in CWS, 99,101-02 
of government-seized plants, 16 
of hospitals, 110 
of lend-lease, 10, 30 
of priorities system, 15 
of procurement agencies, 15 
in QMC, 118 

of transportation systems, 125 
of troopships, 126 
of wartime economy, 11 
Aerial photography and mapping, 104, 108 
Africa. See Northwest Africa, campaign in. 
Agencies, wartime. See also by name. 
civilian-military relations in, 125 
coordination between, 90 
creation of, 10 

Air, command of, effect on enemy, 46 
Air attacks, 46,74-75,83 
Air bases 

in Brazil, potential enemy, 35 
China as base for Pacific, 93, 94 
construction of, 106 
on Leyte, 54 
in Marianas, 51,52 
in New Guinea area, 48 
in Pacific theater, 50 
Air Corps. See Army Air Forces. 

Air Corps Act of 1926, 132 
Air defenses, U.S., 37, 38 
Air Forces 
Fifth, 54 
Fourteenth, 94 
Tenth, 94 

Air forces, volunteer units of, 95 
Air-ground coordination, 53, 57, 62, 76, 78 
early problems, 22 
in Europe, 79, 80, 81,82, 84 
at Guadalcanal, 47,48 
in Italy, 64, 65 
on Leyte, 54 
in Marianas, 52 
in Philippines recovery, 53 
at Rabaul, 49 


Air operations, plans for hemisphere defense, 36-37 
Air power 

China-based, decision on, 94 
growth of U.S.,4, 8 
Philippines, loss in, 44 
role of, 4, 9 
Air supply 
toCBI, 94,95 

of ground forces, 47,48, 81,84, 94 
Air support, naval, in Philippines, 52-56 
Air support, strategic 

from China and India, 95 
in Philippines, 53, 54, 56 
in Sicily, 63 

in support of ground forces, 76,79, 82, 83 
Air support, tactical 

of amphibious operations, 51,82 

in Gilberts-Marshalls, 50-51 

of ground forces. See Air-ground coordination. 

in Guadalcanal, 47 

to isolate battlefield, 140 

on Leyte, 54 

in Marianas, 51-52 

in Philippines recovery, 53 

in Sicily, 63 

weather, effect on, 76, 80, 81 
Air traffic, control by Allies, 137 
Air transport of ground forces, 48 
Airborne forces 

integration into ground forces, 22 
organization and training, 23 
Airborne operations, 53 

combined with amphibious assault, 49, 82 
in Netherlands, 70 
in Normandy, 75 
in Rhine crossing, 71 
in Sicily, 63, 64 
Aircraft 

procurement of, 132-33 
in transport and supply role, 48,93-95 
weapons for, 114, 132 
Aircraft carriers, Japanese losses, 48^49 
Aircraft warning system, development of, 123 
Airfields, construction of, 105-09 
Airlift operations. See Air supply. 

Alaska, preparations for the defense of, 37,38, 107,108 
Alaska Communications System, 124 
Aleutian Islands Campaign, 37, 38,44, 107, 112 





154 


READER'S GUIDE 


Alexander, General Sir Harold, 63 
Algeria, 61 

Allies, 6-14, 105, 120, 126. See also Coalition 
warfare; Global warfare. 

Australia, 11,48, 107, 119 
Brazil, 35, 36, 37,65 

Canada, 35-37,65,69,72,78,83,136-37,141 
China, 8,9, 11,93-95, 107, 124 
France, 62,65,69.70-71,73,74,81 -84, 

137-38 

Great Britain,6-14,62-64,65.69,71-85,89-90. 

107, 108-09, 120, 121,124,132,134 
India, 107 
Iran, 11,89-90, 128 
Mexico, 36, 37 

USSR. 8-9,11,71,72,83,89-90.124 
Alsace, battle of, 82 
Altuzzo, 139-40 

Ammunition supplies, 84, 116-17 
Amphibian vehicles, 13,51,52, 74—75 
Amphibious operations 
Army’s role in, 23 
engineer role in, 107, 108-09 
in France, 81-82 
in Gilberts-Marshalls, 50-51 
at Guadalcanal, 46-48 
in Italy, 64 

major, planning and execution, 54,57,71-72, 
81-82 

in Marianas, 51-52 
medical services. 111, 112, 113 
in New Guinea area, 48,52-55, 107 
in Normandy Campaign, 70,73-75 
in Northwest Africa, 61—62 
over-the-beach supply in, 13, 14,51,52,85, 107, 
128 

planning and execution, 47,54-55,57,71-72. 108 
QMC support of. 121 
in Ryukyus, 56-58 
in Sicily, 63 

transportation for, 126, 127 
Animals 

procurement of, 118 
transport by, 128 
Antiaircraft artillery 

integration into ground forces, 22 
as specialized arm, 22 
Antiaircraft weapons, development, 114 
Antwerp, clearing, 70, 79 
ANVIL. See Southern France Campaign. 

Anzio, stalemate at, 64 
Apennine Mountains, 139 
Appleman, Roy E., 56 
ARCADIA (Washington) Conference, 6 
Arctic regions, bases in, 137 
Ardennes Campaign, 71,73,77,79-81 
Armament, obsolete, 43 
Armies 

32d Japanese, 56 


Armies—Continued 
armor in, 77 
Eighth British. 65 
in ETO,71-73 
Fifth U.S., 64-65 
First Allied Airborne, 70, 78 
First Canadian, 78, 83 
First French, 70,81-82,83 
First U.S., 70,71,73,75-77,78-81,83 
Nineteenth German, 81-82 
Ninth U.S., 70,77,78-80,83 
operations by, 71-73 
Second British. 78-79,83 
Seventh U.S., 63,70,77.81-82,83 
Sixth U.S., 54-56 
tactical experience, summary, 55 
Tenth U.S., 56-57 
Third U.S., 70,71,75-81.82,83 
Armies, “Type,” abandoned. 23 
Armor 

amphibian, 74-75 
integration into ground forces, 22 
plans for organization and use, 22 
tank, controversy over, 114 
Armor operations 

armor-infantry coordination, 51,57, 84, 140 
armor versus armor, 78, 81, 140 
in assault of fortified line, 77, 79 
in breakthrough, 76 
in close support, 140 
in difficult terrain, 57.62,65-66,82 
German, 79-81 
medical services during, 111 
in Philippines recovery, 53, 56 
problems involved, 53 
suppl ies for, ,120-21 
terrain, effects on, 84 
weather, effects on, 84 
Army Air Forces (AAF) 
activation, 21, 29 
black air units, 135, 136 
construction for, 106 

integration of plans with Army and Navy, 7, 9 
movement toward autonomy, 4 
preferential assignment to, 25 
procurement of aircraft for, 132-33 
transportation position, special, 125, 126 
women, use by, 140 

Army General Staff, comparison with Operations 
Division, 6 

Army Ground Forces (AGF), 21-25, 141 
Army group operations. 71-73 
Army Groups 
6th, 70,81-82 
21st British, 80 
Allied, 80 

Army-Navy operations. See Joint operations. 

Army Nurse Corps, 141 

Army Ordnance Association, 115 


INDEX 


155 


Army Service Forces (ASF), 29-31. See also Services 
of Supply. 

relation to technical services, 123, 125, 126 
role in economic mobilization, 14-15 
role in organizing supply theater, 90 
women, use by, 141 

Army Specialized Training Program, 24, 25 
Amaville, river crossing at, 139—40 
Arnold, General Henry H., 29 
Arsenals, 115 
Artillery 

employment of, 52 
German reserves of, 79 
heavy artillery program, 23 
shortages in, 48 

Artillery bombardment of fortified area, 74-75,76, 

139 

Artillery fire support 

in amphibious operations, 51, 53 
in close support, 140 
in Gilberts-Marshalls, 50-51 
of ground forces, 47,49, 53.57, 64. 66,76,78 
in Marianas, 52 
in Philippines recovery, 53 
Artillery units, 76 

Assault tactics. See also Offensive operations; Tactics, 
defense against, 47 

against fortified area. 47,48, 57, 64, 65, 66, 74,76. 
77 

on fortified islands, 53, 54, 56, 57, 63 
piecemeal commitments, 62 
uncoordinated, 62 
Assignment 

of inferior troops to AGF, 24—25 
of QMC troops, 118 
Atlantic. Battle of. 37 
Atomic bomb 

decision to use, 6, 143 
development of, 106. 141—43 
medical care of victims of, 113 
Attack tactics. See Assault tactics; Offensive 
operations; Tactics. 

Australia, 11,48, 107, 119 
Australian Army, in Papua, 48 
Avranches, German thrust on, 69 
Axis forces, evacuation from Sicily, 63-64 
Azores, plans for action in, 37 


B-29s,9,94 
Bahrein refinery, 90 

Balance of power, in coalition warfare, 9 
“Balanced force” concept, 4, 21-22. 23 
Base facilities, 93, 119 

acquisition and organization of new, 38 

in Arctic regions, 137 

construction of, 105, 106. 107, 108, 109 

control by Allies, 137 

enemy, bypassing, 49 

in joint defense, 137 


Base facilities—Continued 
shortages of, 127 
in United Kingdom, 108. 109 
Bastogne, 80 
Bataan, 45, 107, 113 
Bathing facilities, 120 
Battlefield isolation 

attempts by tactical air, 140 
by communications bombing, 75 
Beach defense 

in amphibious operations, 52,75 
in Philippines, 46 
Beachhead establishment, 57, 62 
in airborne operations, 75 
in Normandy, 74 
organization of defense, 47 
in Sicily, 63 
Beck, Alfred M., 108 
Belfort Gap, 81 

Belgium, pursuit across, 70,78-79 
Berlin, halt short of, 73. 83 
Biological warfare, 101-04 
Birdsell, Dale. 103 
Bizerte, drive on, 62 
Black troops, 65, 105,108, 135-36 
Blumenson, Martin, 64, 75 
BOLERO. See Normandy Campaign. 

Bortz, Abe, 108 

Bradley, Lt. Gen. Omar N., 62.75, 80, 82 
Brazil, 35, 36,77 
Breakthrough, tactical. 76 
Brest, reduction of, 70, 75 
Bridgehead 

establishing, 84, 139 
reduction of German, 79 
Bridging equipment, 108, 109 
Bridging materials, procurement of, 104 
Bridging operations, 81.84, 108, 109. 140 
British Royal Navy, 37 
Brittany, operations in, 70, 75 
Brophy, Leo P., 101, 102 
Buildup of forces, 84, 86 
Buildup of supplies, priorities in, 85, 86 
Bulge, Battle of. See Ardennes Campaign. 
Buna, drive on, 48 
Bureaucracy, effect on policy, 43 
Burma, 93-95.107,116 
Bums, James M., 56 
Bush, Vannevar, 142 
Bykofsky, Joseph, 127 
Bypassing operations, 49 

Cairo Conference, 6, 8, 94 
Camouflage, 105 

Canada, 35-37,69,72,136-37,141 
Cannon, M. Hamlin, 54 
Caribbean, U.S. outposts in the, 37, 38 
CARTWHEEL. See Rabaul, reduction of. 
Casablanca Conference, 6, 8, 11,62, 63 



156 


READER'S GUIDE 


Casualties 

experience of first months, 85 
overseas, forecasting, 110 
total in Europe, 83 
transportation of, 127 
Cave fighting, 53, 57 

Central Pacific Area (CENPAC), 44,49,52, 104, 107, 
113 

Chemical Warfare Service (CWS), 99,101-04 
Chemical weapons, industry’s role in producing, 103 
Chemical storage and disposal, 103 
Chennault, Maj. Gen. Claire L., 94 
Cherbourg, fall of, 74. 75 
Chiang Kai-shek, 8, 12,93-95 
Chief of Staff, U.S. Army. See Marshall, General of 
the Army George C. 

Chief of Staff to Supreme Allied Commander, 74 
China, 93-95 

engineer role in, 106, 107 
logistical problems in, 11 
medical instruction of officers, 113 
in politico-military planning, 9 
role in strategic planning, 8 
supply routes to, 11 

China-Burma-India(CBI) Theater, 13.93-95, 107, 
112,113 

China Theater, 95, 107 
Chinese Army, 93-95 
Chronology of World War II, 131 
Churchill, Winston S. 
role in logistics, 10 
role in rearming French, 137-38 
role in strategic planning, 8, 12 
Cities, combat in. See Street fighting. 

Civil affairs 

administration of, 73, 82, 109 
military-versus-civilian administration, 134 
in Philippines recovery, 53 
soldiers as governors, 134 
supplies for, 120 

Civil engineering functions of engineers, 104 
Civilian defense, preparations and training for, 37, 38, 
101 

Civilian food control by Army, 119-20 
Civilian-military relations 

conflict in transportation interests, 126 
in industrial mobilization, 30 
in industrial production, 10 
under martial law, 120 
Ordnance Department-industry, 114, 115 
in overlapping functions, 90 
in procurement, 15, 30 
in scientific research, 102 
in transportation systems, 125, 126 
Civilian supply and Army logistics, 12-14 
Clark, Lt. Gen. Mark, 65 
Clark Air Base, Philippines, 55 
Clarke, Jeffrey J., 81 
Classification system, 25 


Cline, Ray S., 4 
Clothing, 118-21,138 
Coakley. Robert W„ 10, 12 
Coalition warfare. See also Allies; Global warfare, 
amphibious operations in, 74 
command in friendly territory, 62 
dependence on local facilities, 85 
difficulties of. 62-63 
high-level command decisions, 72. 83 
and logistics planning, 12-14 
problems in, at SHAEF, 71-72 
problems of complex organization, 137 
strategic planning for. 6-9,62,64—65 
at tactical levels, 76, 78 
Coastal defenses, bombardment of, 75 
COBRA, 70,75-76 
Cochrane, Rexmond C„ 102 
Cole, Hugh M.. 77, 79 
Coles, Harry L., 134 
Coll, Blanche D.. 104 
Colmar Pocket, 82, 83 
Combat arms 

demands of, versus balanced force, 21-23 
new types, organization for training, 22, 25 
Combat fatigue, 50, 140 
Combat operations 

communications failure in, 140 
French units in, 138 
medical services during, 110-13 
QMC organization in, 121 
relation of logistics to, 84—86 
role of engineers in, 104—05 
role ofordnance, 116—17 
role of Signal Corps in. 121-24 
supply during, 120, 140 

Combat readiness, 25. See also Unpreparedness. 
Combat teams in Philippines recovery, 52-53 
Combined arms, 81, 108 

Combined Bomber Offensive against Germany, 9 
Combined Chiefs of Staff (CCS) 

Chief of Staff as member, 5 
coordination of Pacific operations, 50-51 
plans for Philippines recovery, 53 
relation to Supreme Commander, 72 
role in logistics, 10, 12, 13 
role in rearming French, 125 
strategic concepts of the, 44 
Combined operations 
in Europe, 80-84 
in Italy, 64-66 
problems at SHAEF, 71-72 
unity of command in, 38,43^14,72 
Command. See also Headquarters; Staffs and staff 
procedures. 

of black troops, 135-36 
enemy, effect of surprise on, 46 
geographic division of, 80 
German, 66, 77, 82 
Japanese failure in Philippines, 55 


INDEX 


157 


Command—Continued 
joint, at Papua, 48 
joint and Allied, 43-^14,48 
organization for control of Army, 4 
overseas, control by GHQ, 22-23 
poor coordination in, 139 
special problems in, 48, 112-13 
Command, unity of 
achieved at SHAEF, 72 
in combined operations, 43-44,72-73 
lack of, 43^4 

Marianas as test of doctrine, 51-52 
Marshall on, 4 
Rabaul as example, 49 
Command decisions 

division and higher, 71, 76, 83 
by Eisenhower, 70,71-73, 82,83,86 
at highest Allied levels, 72, 83 
Command relations 

Allied, in Pacific theater, 43-44 
in amphibious operations, 50-51 
Anglo-American, in Iran, 90 
among Axis powers, 63 
in CBI, 93-95 

in joint operations, 44, 52,53 
in supplying units in zone of interior, 30 
Command structure 

Allied and Axis in Africa, 62 
Allied and Axis in Italy, 66 
in bilateral cooperation, 136 
enemy, in Normandy, 74 
in ETO, 80,84-86 
and medical services, 112-13 
Commanders 

assistance of staff to, 5 
surrender, ethics of, 45^46 
Commands, coordination by OPD with WDGS, 5 
Commands, unified, control of shipping in, 128 
Commission of officers, 4 
Communications 
air attack on, 75 
enemy, effect of surprise on, 46 
equipment, 122, 123, 124 
facilities for global warfare, 122, 124 
failures in combat, 140 
global, role of shipping in, 11 
intelligence, 124 
security, 124 
space age, 123 

Communications Zone, ETO, 84-86 
Compton, Arthur, 142 

Compulsory-versus-voluntary service in industry, 
17 

Conant, James B., 142 
Condon-Rall, Mary Ellen, 112 
Conferences, Allied, 8, 9, 14,44 
Anglo-American, 7 
decisions reached in 1941,6 
staff procedures at, 6 


Congress 

attitude toward war, 3 
and Chief of Staff, 4 
and national service legislation, 16 
Conn, Stetson, 35, 37 
Construction, 90, 105, 108, 109 
for atomic bomb project, 142—43 
of hospitals, 112 
in the United States, 105 
Construction equipment, heavy, 107, 108 
Contracts, 15, 16 
for aircraft, 133 

civilian-versus-military management of projects, 90 
construction, 106 
by Signal Corps, 124 
with small businesses, 15, 123 
termination and renegotiation, 16, 103, 118, 123 
types of, 133 
Control 

of Army, organization for, 4 
flexible, in tactical reorganizations, 22 
of Ordnance Department activities, 114 
of rearmed Allied units, 138 
“Control” agency, device in management, 30 
Controlled Materials Plan, 16 
Cooperation 

Army-industry, 118 
bilateral, command structure in, 136-37 
in equipment development, 105 
Transportation Corps with other agencies, 125 
United States and Canada, 136-37 
United States and USSR, 90 
Coordination 

air-ground. See Air-ground coordination, 
armor-infantry, 140 
by CCS of Pacific operations, 50 
in command, poor, 139 
inter-Allied, 90 
interservice, 49, 54, 90 
of technical services by ASF, 29, 30 
Coral Sea campaign, 38 
Corps 
11,62 

III Amphibious, 57 
V, 78 

VII, 78 

VIII, 80 
XXIV, 57 

Corps, “Type,” abandoned, 23 
Corps operations 
in ETO, 76 

in Lorraine campaign, 77 
in offensive, 47, 49 
Corregidor, 45,46, 107 
Cosmas, Graham A., 111 
Cost-plus-a-fixed-fee contracts, 15 
Counterattacks 

armor operations against, 77 
German methods, 140 





158 


READER'S GUIDE 


Counterattacks—Continued 
Japanese methods, 51,52,58 
naval, defense against, 53 
Cowdrey, Albert E., Ill, 112 
Crowl, Philip A., 50,51 
Crystal control, introduction of, 123 
Customs, national, problem among Allies, 138 

Danube River crossing, 83 
Dead 

care of. 119, 120, 121 
transport of, 127 
Defense planning 

of continental United States, 23 
of Western Hemisphere, 35-38,136-37 
Defense Plant Corporation, 132 
Defensive area, deliberate, organization of, 140 
Defensive operations 
Burma, Japanese in, 94 
corps in, 49 

against enemy attack, 47 
in fortified areas, 46, 57 
infantry in, 76 

of islands, by Japanese, 51,52 
of islands, under siege conditions, 46 
Japanese methods, 52 
against naval counterattack, 53 
in Philippines by United States, 44-46 
of river line, 53 

Dehydrated foods, development, 118 
Delaying actions 

on grand scale, 77, 81,82 
in Philippines by United States, 44-46 
Rabaul as example, 49, 50 
Demobilization 

construction activity, 106 
industrial, 118 
military, 23 

Demolition teams on Okinawa, 56-57 
Dependents, transportation of, 127 
Deployment. See also Redeployment, 
comparison with World War I, 22 
concepts of, 6, 7, 9 
global, of ground forces, 22 
Depot facilities 

engineer provision of, 107 
Ordnance Department system, 115 
procedures, improved, 123 
shipment from, to troops, 115-16 
Destroyer-Base Agreement, 37, 137 
Devers, Lt. Gen. Jacob, 81-82 
Diplomacy and negotiation 
with American republics, 37 
with Canada, 136^37 
with China, 94 
Stilwell’s problems, 95 
techniques of, 9 
U.S. role in, 8 

Wedemeyer’s problems, 95 


Direction, loss of, 140 
Disaster relief, 112 
Discipline, 82 

Disease, effect on troops, 48 
Division, Armored, 7th, 139 
Division, armored, as striking force, 76 
Division, infantry. See also Divisions; Divisions, 
Infantry. 

amphibious envelopment by, 54 
building and training, 24 
in offensive, 49-50,63,80-84 
redeployment experience, typical. 23 
Division operations in Normandy, 74 
Divisions. See also Division, infantry; Divisions, 
Infantry. 

light, experiment with, 23 
ninety-division decision, 8-9 
stripping for replacements, 25 
Divisions, Infantry 
5th, 139 
28th. 139 
85th, 139 
99th. 80 
106th. 80 
black, 135 
Dod.KariC., 106 
Dogs, use in war, 119 

DRAGOON. See Southern France Campaign. 

Driver training, 127 
Dziuban, Stanley W., 136 

Economy, national 

relation of QMC to, 1 17-18 
transition to war production, 14—15 
Economy, wartime 

civilian-versus-military control of, 15, 30, 

125 

relation to strategic planning, 7,9, 12-14 
transition to peace production, 15 
Economy of force, jeopardized by specialization, 21- 
22 *• 

Egypt, 61 

Eisenhower, General of the Army Dwight D., 5, 74, 
77,81-82 

controversies with Montgomery, 73, 83 
decisions, history of, 70,71-73, 86 
Elbe River, drive to, 71,83 
Electronics, development, 122 
Elsenbom ridge, 80 
Emergency period 

CWS, expansion during, 102 
engineer training during, 105 
rearmament during, 4 
Signal Corps in, 121-24 
training of combat units, 22 
Enemy actions, effect on strategic planning, 

43-14 

Enemy aliens in U.S., 37, 38 
Engelman, Rose C., 37 


INDEX 


159 


Engineer amphibian brigades, 105 
Engineer operations 

bridging operations, 81, 108, 109, 140 
in CBI, 95, 107 

combat operations, 107, 108, 109 
equipment development for, 105. 108 
in ETO. 108-09 
in infantry role, 81,99, 139 
in Mediterranean theater, 108-09 
in Philippines recovery, 53, 107, 108 
at river lines, 78, 108, 109 
Engineer special brigades, 108 
2d,107 
3d,107 
4th, 107 

Engineers, Corps of, 99,104-09,139—40 
and atomic bomb, 142 
boat and shore operations, 107 
Eniwetok, 50 

Enlisted strength in units, 23 
Enveloping maneuvers 

amphibious, infantry division in, 54 
in Europe, 81 
in jungle operations, 53 
Equipment. See also Materiel; Weapons, 
bridging, 108. 109 
captured enemy, 120 
communications, list of, 123 
communications, protection of, 124 
comparison of U.S. and German, 116 
construction, 107, 108 
delivery to Allies, 138 

engineering, development of, 99, 104-05, 107, 108, 
109 

evaluation of, in combat, 116-17, 120 
quartermaster, in Philippine Army, 119 
reduction in bulk, 117 
shortages, 25, 140 
transport, mobilization of, 126 
transport, shortages in, 126 
transportation of, to theaters, 127 
Europe 

nature of combat in, 139 
plans to invade, 10-11 
U.S. preoccupation with. 36 
“Europe First” policy, 43, 44 
European Theater of Operations (ETO) 
black units in, 135-36 
civil affairs administration, 134 
comparison with Pacific theater, 116 
engineer role in, 108-09 
logistical support in, 12, 14,71,84—86 
Medical Department role in, 111-12 
operations in, 69-86 
ordnance support, 116-17 
pictorial record, 147 
Quartermaster Corps operations, 120-21 
regimental operations, 139 
SHAEF, role in, 71-73 


Evacuation, medical, 110-13,140 

forecasting casualties from overseas, 110 
role of transportation in. 109-10 
Expeditionary forces 
Army plans for, 37 
size for overseas war, 22, 23 
Exploitation of opportunity, 55 

Fairchild, Byron, 16, 35, 37 
Falaise-Argentan pocket, 70, 76 
Field artillery, employment, 47 
Field artillery support. See Artillery support. 

Field commands. See Commands. 

Financing, military and industrial facilities, 15, 113-14 

Fine, Lenore, 105 

Fire, reluctance to, by soldier, 140 

Firepower, U.S., unparalleled on Okinawa, 56 

First Special Service Force, 137 

Fisher, Ernest F., Jr., 65 

Fisher, George J. B.. 101 

Fixed-price contracts, 15 

Flamethrowers 

development, 102, 103, 104 
on Okinawa, 57 
tactical use, 53, 79, 103, 104 
Food 

control of, by Army, 119 
dehydrated, 118 
for prisoners of war, 120-21 
problem among Allies, 138 
for troops, 120-21 

Foreign relations. See also Diplomacy and negotiation. 
China as factor in, 9 
toward China, 95 
consideration by SHAEF, 72 
coordination with strategic planning, 4, 6 
France and United States, 138 
relation to strategic planning, 7, 9 
Foreigners, use in war industry, 17 
Forest fighting, 70, 78, 79, 80 
Formosa, decision to bypass, 55 
Fortified areas 

armament obsoleteness in, 45 
armor operations in, 77 
artillery bombardment of, 74,76, 140 
assault and defense of, 46,47, 57, 74, 76, 77, 79, 
108, 109 

small-unit attacks on, 48 
Fortified islands. See Island warfare. 

France, 62,63,137-38 
Franco-American Riviera Force, 81, 110 
Freight traffic, control of, 126 
French Morocco, 61. 134 

French North Africa. See Northwest Africa, campaign 
in. 

Frequency modulation, introduction, 123 

Garland, Albert N„ 62 
Gas warfare, 103-04 




160 


READER’S GUIDE 


Gasoline shortage in European theater, 84 
Gaulle, General Charles de, conflict with Giraud, 138 
General classification tests, 24 
General Headquarters, 1940-42.6 
activation, 21 

in control of overseas commands, 23 
General purpose-versus-specialized units, 23 
Germany 

command decisions by, 64. 66, 77, 78 
counterattack methods, 79-81, 140 
drive to border, 70,75-77 
medical services, 110 
mine warfare by, 108 

nature and extent of threat to United States, 36 
occupied, 109, 111 
as primary enemy, 6, 8 
Redoubt, Alpine, 71 
research and development by, 114 
resistance in Italy, 64—66 
strategic planning, 72, 80 
tactics in Sicily, 63,64 
Gilberts and Marshalls Campaign, 50-51 
Giogo Pass, 139 

Giraud, General Henri, conflict with de Gaulle, 138 
Global warfare. See also Allies; Coalition warfare, 
adaptation of QMC products to, 117-18 
communications in. 122, 124 
Normandy, effect on, 9 
shipping allocation, conflict in, 90 
strategic planning, competition, 85 
strategic planning for, 7, 10-14 
transportation in, 10, 13 
U.S. transition to, 36 
Gona, drive on, 48 
Gothic Line, 65 
Government-seized plants, 16 
Graves Registration Command, 121 
Green, Constance McLaughlin, 113 
Greenfield, Kent Roberts, 21 

Greenland, decision to participate in defense of, 37, 38 

GRENADE, 71 

Grossman, Jonathan, 16 

Ground forces. See also Troop units. 

air supply and support of, 12,48,49, 52,53, 56, 57, 
63-64, 76, 78,95 

artillery support of, 49,52,53,57,76,78, 139^40 
attack on artillery units, 76 
automatic resupply of, 120 
logistic interaction with air and naval logistics, 12 
naval gunfire support of, 49,53,56-57,74 
organization, 21-25 
procurement and training, 23-25 
Groves, Maj. Gen. Leslie R., 142 
Guadalcanal Campaign, 46-48, 113 
Guam, recovery of, 51-52 
Guerrilla forces 

cooperation with regulars, 54-55,56,74 
in Prance, 74, 82, 138 
on Leyte, 54—55 


Guerrilla forces—Continued 
medical services to, 113 
Gugeler, Russell A., 56 
Gustav Line, 65 

Halsey, Admiral William P., 49 
Handy, Lt. Gen. Thomas T.. 5 
Hara-kiri, 58 

Harbor defenses, U.S., 37 
Harris, Dixie R., 121 
Harrison, Gordon A., 73 
Hastie, William H., 135 
Hawaii 

drive into Pacific from, 50 
under martial law, 120 
preparations for defense of, 37, 38, 107, 108 
as supply base, 119 
Hawley, Maj. Gen. Paul R., 1 11 
Headquarters. See also Command; Staffs and staff 
procedures. 

integrated, for coalition warfare, 62,72-73 
organization and size, 23, 31 
personality conflicts in, 85, 86 
problems in directing, 72-73 
Heavy artillery program, 23 
Hedgerows, battle of the, 70, 75, 76 
Hitler, attitude toward Normandy, 74 
Hobby, Col. Oveta Culp, 140 
Holley, Irving Brinton, jr., 132 
Hospitalization, in zone of interior, 109-10 
Hospitals, 109-13 
Howe, George P., 61 
Huertgen Porest battles, 70, 79, 139 
Hull, Lt. Gen. John E., 5 
"Hump” supply operations, 94 
Hurley, Maj. Gen. Patrick J., 94 
HUSKY. Sec Sicily Campaign. 

Iceland, plans for action in, 37, 38 
Imports to United Kingdom, impact of, 11 
Incendiaries, development, 102 
India 

air supply to China from, 94, 107 
logistical problems in, 11 
strategic air support from, 95 
as supply base, 11, 107 
India-Burma Theater, 95, 107 
Individual training, 24 
Indochina, attempt to liberate, 138 
Industry. See also Labor, industrial; Production, 
aircraft, 132-33 
automobile, 132-33 

capacity and expansion in communications, 123 

competition for materiel with. 105 

compulsory-versus-voluntary service in, 17 

construction for, by Army, 106 

cooperation with Army, 117-18,132-33,143 

facilities, financing, 15 

relations with Ordnance Department, 115 




INDEX 


161 


Industry—Continued 

role in chemical production, 102-03 
Signal Corps contributions to, 122-23 
Infantry tactics. See Ground forces; Tactics. 

Initiative 

in Ardennes, regaining of, 73 
at Guadalcanal, 46-47 
in Papua, 48 

in Northwest Africa, 61-62 
Inland waterways, use of, 127 
Insect-borne disease, 111 
Inspection 

of communications equipment, 124 
of supplies, 118 

Intelligence operations, 53, 57, 82 

in combat, inadequate, 55-56,79, 80, 81, 139 
strategic, 105 

in technical developments, 114 
International political policy, military role in, 

134 

Interservice cooperation, 52, 90 
Iran, 11,89-90,128 
Island warfare 

amphibious operations, 50-51,63 
armor-infantry coordination, 51 
assaults, 53,54, 56, 57, 63 
engineer role in, 107 
logistical planning, 53, 54, 120 
medical support for, 112 
under siege conditions, 46 
small-unit actions, 51-52 
supply operations in, 120 

Italian campaign, 64-66,108, 109, 110, 111,116-17, 
120 

Italy 

occupied, 110-11,134 
surrender of, 62-64,65 
Iwo Jima, seizure of, 56 

Japan 

and China, 94 

command system, 43,44 

Corps of Engineers in the war against, 106-08 

estimate of U.S. troops, 47 

fleet operations in Pacific, 51-52 

interests in the Pacific, 43, 44 

lines of communications severed, 54 

logistic-strategic planning for war against, 12, 14 

medical services in the war against, 112-13 

nature and extent of threat to United States, 36 

occupied, 113 

offensive plans and operations, 43^44,47,48,51, 

55- 56 

Okinawa defensive system, 56-58 
organization, strategy, weapons, 43^14,50,51,55, 

56- 58 

planning for final defeat of, 6, 8 
redeployment against, 21 
strategic planning by, 43, 44, 53, 56 


Japan—Continued 

strategy in defending Philippines, 53, 55 
Japanese Americans 
internment of, 37, 38 
use in U.S. forces, 65 
Joint Aircraft Committee, 132 
Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) 

anticipations regarding Rabaul, 49 
Chief of Staff as member, 5 
coordination of Pacific operations, 50 
plans for Philippines recovery, 53 
relation to Supreme Commander, 72 
role in logistics, 10, 12 
role in rearming French, 138 
strategic concepts of the, 44 
theater-versus-grand strategy problems, 47 
Joint operations 

Army-Navy logistical organization, 10, 11, 

13 

base facilities for, 137 
command relations in, 44, 52, 53 
coordination of logistical operations, 10, 13 
in Philippines recovery, 52-53 
planning for, 43-44,63-64,82 
problems at SH AEF, 71-72 
psychological factors in. 137 
task forces in, 62 
unity of command in, 43^-4,72 
in Western Hemisphere defense, 36-37 
Joint staff committees, 6 
Jones, Vincent C., 141 

Jungle operations. See also Tropical warfare, 
engineer role in, 106-08 
enveloping maneuvers, 53 
at Guadalcanal, 47 

tactical problems and techniques, 47,49 
Jurisdiction, questions among Allies, 137 

Kamikaze attacks, 55,57,58 
Keast, William R., 23 
Kenney, Lt. Gen. George C., 54 
Kieffer, Chester L., 117 
King, Maj. Gen. Edward P., Jr., 45 
King, Admiral Ernest J., 12 
Kleber, Brooks E., 103 
Krueger, Lt. Gen. Walter, 54, 55,56 
Kwajalein, seizure of, 50 

Labor, industrial 

administration and management, 16-17 
local, use overseas, 85.86,90, 127-28 
Signal Corps, supply problems, 124 
unions, in construction trades, 106 
Laboratory for Development of Substitute Materials 
(DSM), 142 
Landing craft 

amphibian, 13, 14,51,52,84 
operators for, 104 
problems in 1942—43, 11 







162 


READER’S GUIDE 


Landing craft—Continued 
shortages, effect of, 74 
used in shipping, 13, 14 
Landing mats, procurement, 104 
Landings, assault. See Amphibious operations. 
Language barrier among Allies, 138 
Larson, Harold, 127 
Latin America, 14,35-38 
Laundry operations, 118, 119, 120 
Ledo Road, 94, 107 
Lee, Ulysses, 135 
Leighton, Richard M., 10, 12 
Lend-lease, 12 

administration, 11,30 
to China, 14,93-95 
extent and effect, 123 
to Latin America, 14 
to liberated nations, 14 
origin and adoption, 4 
to Soviet Union, 11, 14,89-90 
of transport facilities, 126 
Leyte, recovery of, 54-55 
Leyte Gulf naval battle, 54 
Liberated areas, 13, 14, 109, 121. 134 
Libya, 61 

Limited attacks, armor in, 78 
Limited-service men, 25 
Limited war, effect on deployment, 7, 9 
Lines of communications 
with China, 93, 108 
Japan-Southeast Asia, severed, 54 
to Pacific theater, 107, 108, 119 
problems of, 95 
in remote areas, 108 
transport over, difficulties in, 127 
U.S.-Australian, 46-47 
Liquor ration, 120 

Littlejohn, Maj. Gen. Robert M., 120-21 
Loading and unloading operations, 125 
Logistical planning and operations, 3^4,10-14,29-31 
amphibious, 51,52, 82 
battle efficiency, relation to, 49 
central administration, evolution of, 10-11 
construction, relation to, 107, 108, 109 
dependence of tactical strength on, 47, 120 
engineer role in, 107, 108-09 
in ETO. 71,78,81,84-86, 120-21 
facilities constructed by Allies, 137 
German failures, 81 
improvised methods, 48 
in India-Burma Theater, 95, 107 
for island warfare, 54, 107, 120 
joint Army-Navy organization for, 10, 11,53 
in mobile warfare, 76, 84, 85, 86, 107 
for Normandy, 71,73-74,84-85 
in Philippines fall, 45 
in Philippines recovery, 53 
relation to capacity for resistance, 46 
for support of China-based B-29s, 94, 107 


Logistics 

combat, relation to, 84-86 
global, and strategy, 10-14 
Lorraine campaign, effect on, 77 
strategy, relation to, 9,10-14,30 
Lorraine campaign, 70,77-78,82 
Love, Edmund G., 50 
Lutes, Maj. Gen. Leroy, 12 
Luzon, 45^6 
Lynch, Charles W., 108 
Lyon, drive to, 81 

Maas River, 79 

MacArthur, General of the Army Douglas 
departs from ORANGE Plan, 45 
directs Rabaul reduction, 49 
first offensive under, 48 
return to Philippines, 54,55-56 
role in strategic planning, 12, 107 
McCloy, John J., 135 
MacDonald, Charles B„ 78, 83, 139 
Machinery 

construction, procurement of, 104 
materials-handling, 119 
McNair, Lt. Gen. Lesley J., 21-22,24,29 
Maginot Line forts, assault on, 77 
Maintenance 

management of shops, 116, 117 
of spare parts stocks, 104, 105, 123, 127 
in transportation facilities, 127 
Makin, seizure of, 50 
Management 

of industrial labor, 16-17 
use of “control” agency device, 30 
Maneuver, war of. See Mobile warfare. 
Maneuvers, as training device, 25 
Manhattan Project, 106, 141 —43 
Manila, recapture of, 55-56 
Manpower. See also Labor, industrial. 
American superiority of, 83 
and Army, 16-17 
economical use of, 85, 86 
influence on strategy, 9 
limitations in, effect on mobilization, 8, 22 
mobilizing, 10 

in producing chemical weapons, 102 
in transport agencies, 126 
Signal Corps problems, 123-24 
skilled. Corps of Engineers need for, 104 
for theater services, 90 
Mapping instruments, procurement, 104 
Maps 

preparation and supply, 105 
production by engineers, 104 
Marianas campaign, 51-52 
Marine Corps 

Army units under, 53 

on Okinawa, 57 

in the Pacific theater, 43, 52 


INDEX 


163 


Marine Corps—Continued 
in Philippines, 45 
Women’s Reserve, 141 
MARKET-GARDEN, 70,78-79 
Marseille, seizure of, 81 
Marshall, General of the Army George C., 135 
control of Army, 4-6 
ninety-division decision, 8-9 
plans and preparations, 3-4 
role in strategic planning, 12 
Martial law, 120 
Materials, raw, shortages of, 114 
Materiel. See also Armament, obsolete; Equipment; 
Weapons. 

allocation and distribution, 10, 11, 12-14 
allocation in military aid, 10, 12-14 
American, superiority of, 14, 84 
for chemical warfare, development, 102-03 
competition with industry in, 105 
development, philosophy of, 114 
shipment from depot to troops, 116 
shortages, 123 
for theater services, 90 
transportation of, 12-14, 126 
Mathews, Sidney T., 139 
Matloff, Maurice, 6, 8 
Mayo, Lida, 108, 114,116 

Mechanization, effect on transportability and mobility, 
23 

Medical Department 
in ETO, 111-12 

in Mediterranean theater, 110-11 
in Pacific theater, 112-13 
women, use by, 141 
in zone of interior, 109-10 
Medical services. See also Evacuation, medical; 
Hospitals; Preventive medicine, 
in occupied countries, 110-11, 112 
in Philippines recovery, 53 
to prisoners of war, 110, 111 
vehicles for, 110 

Mediterranean Theater of Operations 
civil affairs administration, 134 
engineer role in, 108-09 
Medical Department role in, 110-11 
operations in, 13,61-66,82 
ordnance support, 116-17 
Pacific, comparison with, 9 
pictorial record, 147 
quartermaster operations, 120 
strategic-logistical planning for, 13 
Merrill’s Marauders, 94 
Messages. See Communications. 

Messina, race for, 63 

Metz, assault on, 77, 139 

Meuse River, drive to and crossing of, 77, 80 

Mexico, collaboration with United States, 36 

Middle East Theater, 1 1,89-90 

Midway, battle for, 38,48 


Miles, Wyndham D., 102 
Military aid. See also Lend-lease, 
to Allies, 3,4 
allocation of materiel, 10 
to American republics, 14, 36 
to China, 14,93-95 
to France, 137-38 
by France to United States, 137 
to Iran, 89-90 
to liberated nations, 14 
shortages in, 10 
to Soviet Union, 14, 89-90 
in transport facilities, 127 
Military facilities, financing, 15 
Military government, 72, 73, 109, 134 
Military power, U.S., expansion of, 10 
Miller, John, jr„ 46,48 
Millett, John D., 29 
Milne Bay, 48 
Milner, Samuel, 48 
Mine warfare, 108, 109 

Minorities, use in war industry, 17. See also Black 
troops. 

Mission, advisory, to Iran, 90 
Mobile warfare 

armor and infantry in, 65, 66, 76, 84 

effect of mechanization and motorization, 23, 84 

in ETO, 75-76,81,84 

on Leyte, 54-55 

logistical support in, 81,84, 85, 86, 120-21 
medical services during, 111 
motor transport in support of, 128 
ordnance support of, 116-17 
Mobilization, economic 
of Allies, 137 
Army and, 14—16 
ASFrolein, 14-15 
of transport equipment, 126 
Mobilization, industrial. See also Demobilization, 
industrial. 

aircraft production, 132-33 
civilian-military relationships in, 30, 132—33 
nationwide planning for, 15 
prewar planning for, 14-15, 133 
and public opinion, 16 
Mobilization, military, 3,4, 10 
comparison with World War I, 22 
effect of changes in war plans on, 21-22 
of ground forces, 21-22 
U.S. weakness during, 37 
Monte Altuzzo, breakthrough at, 139-A0 
Monte Cassino, bombing of, 64, 65 
Montgomery, Field Marshal Sir Bernard L., 72, 80, 82 
controversies with Eisenhower, 73, 83 
Morale 

in combat, 56, 82, 136, 140 
effect of enemy command of air and sea on, 46 
effect of racial segregation on, 135, 136 
Morgan, Lt. Gen. Sir Frederick E., 74 












164 


READER’S GUIDE 


Mortain, German counterattack, 70 
Mortars, chemical, 102 
Morton, Louis, 43,44 

Moselle River, drive to and crossing, 77, 139 
Motorization, effect on transportability and mobility, 
23 

Motter, T. H. Vail, 89 

Mountain warfare, 62,63,64,63-66,81-82, 109, 139 

Mountbatten, Admiral Lord Louis, 94 

Munitions. See Equipment; Materiel; Weapons. 

Murmansk route, 89 

Mussolini, 63 

Myitkyina, drive on, 94 

National Defense Advisory Commission, 133 
National Defense Research Committee (NDRC), 142 
National Security Act of 1947, 6 
National service legislation, 16 
Naval bases 

seizure in Marianas, 51 
seizure in New Guinea area, 48 
seizure in Pacific, 50 
Naval coordination in Marianas, 52 
Naval gunfire support 

in amphibious operations, 51,52, 57, 74 
in Gilberts-Marshalls, 50-51 
of ground forces, 49, 53, 56, 57, 62 
in Philippines recovery, 52-53 
Naval operations 

in amphibious operations, 51,52, 57, 74 
in Guadalcanal Campaign, 47 
in Pacific theater, 43-44,49-58 
Negro Troop Policies, Advisory Committee on, 135 
Nelson, Donald M„ 29-30 
Netherlands, operations in, 70,78-79 
Neutrals, problem of, 9 

New Guinea area, 48, 52-55. 107, 116. See also 
Papua Campaign. 

New Zealand as supply base, 1 19 
Newfoundland, relation to Canada, 137 
Night operations, 81 
Nimitz, Admiral Chester W., 50 
Nondivisional units, training, 24 
NORDWIND. 82 

Normandy Campaign, 13,70,73-75,84—85,108-09, 
116-17 

North Atlantic, U.S. outposts in the, 37, 38, 110 
North Italy incident, 138 
Northern France, breakout and pursuit, 70,75-77 
Northwest Africa, campaign in, 38,61-62, 138 
civil affairs administration, 134 
effect of decision for, 7, 11 
engineer role in, 108, 109 
logistical problems, 11 
medical services in, 110-11 
Normandy Campaign, effect on, 85 
ordnance support, 116 
plans for, 6 

quartermaster operations, 120 


Oakes, Pauline M., 121 

Occupied territories, U.S., 13,14, 109, I 10-1 1, 112, 
1 13,134 

Offensive operations. See also Assault tactics; 
Tactics. 

Guadalcanal as first, 46-47 
Japanese, in China, 94 
Japanese plans and operations, 47,48, 50, 51 
Marshall’s plans for, 8 
Officer candidate schools, 24, 25 
Officers 
black, 135 

commission and promotion, 4 
procurement policies and problems, 24, 105 
training program, 3, 105 
Okinawa Campaign, 56-58, 1 16 
Operations Division (OPD), 4-6, 12,29 
Oppenheimer, J. Robert, 142 
ORANGE Plan, 7 
abandonment, 50 
failure, 46 

Ordnance Department, 113-17 
Organization. See also Reorganization, 
of airborne forces, 23 
of aircraft procurement, 133 
Allied policy, changes required by, 90 
Army General Staff, 1947, 6 
of ASF, 29-31 
of beachhead defense, 47 
of black troops, 136 

continental United States, for defense of, 23 
for control of Army, 4 
ofCWS, 101 

of construction activities, 105-09 

of defensive area, 140 

at division level, 83-84 

engineer troop units, 105, 108, 109 

in ETO, 84-86,120-21 

of ground forces, 21-23 

of hospitals, 109 

Japanese, in Pacific, 50,58 

joint and combined agencies, 10 

for joint operations, 53 

of Manhattan Project, 142—43 

of medical services, 111, 112, 113 

for military role in civil administration, 134 

of new combat arms, 22, 25 

of Ordnance Department, 1 14, 115. 116-17 

personality conflicts in, 85. 86 

plans, for Army, 3—4 

of procurement agencies, 15 

ofQMC, 117-2 U 

of service schools, 24, 25 

of Signal Corps, 122, 123 

territorial, in theaters, 85 

of a theater, 90, 95 

of Transportation Corps. 124—28 

of U.S. Army, 1939-31,37 

U.S. Army-Navy, in Canada, 137 


INDEX 


165 


Organization—Continued 
of War Department, 5, 6 
of zone of interior in wartime, 30 
Overhead, struggle against, 23 
OVERLORD. See Normandy Campaign. 

Overseas war, size of force for, 22, 23 

Pacific Ocean Areas (POA), naval operations by, 54 
Pacific theater 

Allied interests in, 43-^14 
China as air base for, 93, 94 
demand for flamethrowers, 104 
deployment for unlimited war, effect on, 7 
engineer role in, 106-08 
lines of communications to, 119 
logistical problems in, 11, 14 
Medical Department role in, 112-13 
Mediterranean, comparison with, 9 
operations in, 13,41-58 
pictorial record, 147 
QMC operations in, 119-20 
reinforcement of, 10-11, 13 
Packaging and packing, 118, 124 
Palau Islands seizure, 52 
Palermo, 63 

Palmer, Robert R., 21,23 

Panama Canal Zone, preparations for the defense of, 
37,38, 107-08 
Panic, study of, 140 
Papua Campaign, 48, 107, 113, 116 
Paris, liberation of, 70, 76 
Patents and licensing agreements, 124 
Patrolling, 140 

Patton, Lt. Gen. George S., Jr., 63,64, 77 
Pearl Harbor, attack on. 37, 38 
staff failure as factor, 6 
War Department responsibility, 4 
Peel Marshes, clearing of, 70 
Perimeter defense tactics, 80 
Persian Corridor, supply through, 89-90 
Personality conflicts in organization, 85, 86 
Personnel 

assignment of, 23-25, 118 
black, 65,105,108,135-36 
personal services and comforts, 120 
quality of troops, 23-25 
reluctance to fire, 140 
training program, 4,23-25 
transportation of, 126 

Philippine Army, quartermaster equipment, 119 
Philippines, fall of, 43-46 
decision to reinforce, 4 
logistical unpreparedness, 120 
Philippines, recovery of, 52-56,107-08,116-17 
Photographic history of World War II, 147 
Photography, 123 

Physical fitness of minority soldiers, 136 

Physical Profile System, 25 

Pigeons, use in communication, 122, 124 


Pipelines 

to China, 94, 107 
expansion in Iran, 90 

Planning. See also Strategic planning; Tactical 
planning. 

for amphibious operations, 47, 57 
for beach breakout under observation, 66 
for chemical warfare, 101-04 
by Chief of Staff, 3^1 
for civil affairs administration, 134 
communications underestimated in, 122 
coordination with industry, 4 
coordination of medical and operational, 111, 112 
engineer role in, 109 
for industrial mobilization, 14—15, 133 
integration of Army-Navy-AAF plans, 7, 9 
for joint operations, 43^44 
for labor problems, 16-17 
for logistical support, 120-21 
long-range, for production, 115 
by Ordnance Department, 113-14 
prewar, 43, 133 
for procurement, 103, 133 
strategy and logistics, relation of, 30, 78 
for transport in theaters, 125, 127 
for use of atomic bomb, 143 
for use of black troops, 135 
Pogue, Forrest C., 71 
Point system in redeployment, 23 
POL products, distribution, 104, 109 
Policy decisions 
by Allies in 1941,6 
on chemical warfare, 101-02 
of President, prewar, 3,4 
Politics, relation to military decisions, 44, 82 
Port facilities, 125 
artificial, 85 

construction and repair, 104—05, 107, 108, 127 
control of, 125 
in ETO, 84-85,86 
Ports of embarkation 
operation, 125, 126 
relations with theater, 121 
staging areas at, 126 
Prejudice, problems with, 135-36 
Preparedness. See Combat readiness; Rearmament; 
Unpreparedness. 

Preventive medicine, 110, 111, 112 
Pricing 

articles in contracts, 103 
problems in, 15 

progressive, origin and development, 15 
Priorities 

in buildup of supplies, 85, 86 
“Europe First” policy, 43-44 
evolution and administration of system, 15 
Prisoners of war 

food and clothing for, 120-21 
medical care of, 111, 112, 113 





166 


READER'S GUIDE 


Prisoners of war—Continued 
transportation of, 127 
use in war industry, 17 
Procurement 

of aircraft, 132-33 
of animals, 118, 119 
civilian-military relations in, 15, 30 
by Corps of Engineers, 104, 105, 106 
of ground combat troops, 23-25 
local, overseas, 95, 119, 120, 121 
of officers, 24, 105 

Ordnance Department methods, 114—16 
patents and licensing agreements, 124 
planning for, 103 
prewar restrictions on, 132, 133 
byQMC, 117-19 
of replacements, 24, 76 
by Signal Corps, 124 
War Department planning for, 15 
Production 

of aircraft, 132-33 

Allies, coordination among, 137 

of atomic bomb, 141-43 

civilian-military relations in, 10, 106 

construction for, 106, 132, 133 

expediting, 118 

of fissionable materials, 143 

improvements, conflict with, 122 

military planning, coordination with, 4, 13, 14, 133 

Ordnance Department methods, 114—16 

byQMC, 117-19 

relation of requirements to, 13, 14 
strategy, correlation with, 7,9, 13, 14 
time lag in, 114 

transition of industry to wartime, 14—16, 

132-33 

United States as leader in, 14 
Production Management, Office of, 133 
Promotion of officers, 4 
Propaganda, use of leaflets in, 140 
Property, surplus, disposal of, 119 
Psychiatry, combat, 110, 11 1 
Psychological factors in joint operations, 137 
Psychological warfare, 73, 140 
PT boats in Philippines recovery, 53 
Public health. 111, 113 
Public opinion 

and imminence of war, 3 
and mobilization of labor, 16 
Public relations, 73 

Public utilities, conversion to wartime use, 125 
Pursuit operations 
in Italy, 66 
support for, 121 

QUADRANT (Quebec) Conference, 6 
Quartermaster Corps (QMC), 1 17-21 
Quebec Conferences, 6, 8,63 
QUEEN, 79 


Rabaul, reduction of, 44,46,48,49 
Racial integration. 136 
Racial stereotyping, 135, 136 
Racial violence, 135-36 
Radar, 122, 123, 124 
Radios, 122, 123, 124 
Railroads, 125 

in ETO, 81,84-85, 109 
operation by Transportation Corps, 125 
payment for use of, 90 
repair of, 109, 127 
RAINBOW Plan, 7 
Rapido River crossing, 64 
Rations, development, 118 
Real estate acquisition, 106 
Rearmament 

demands of, 3, 4 
of France, 62,137-38 
Reconnaissance in force, 50 
Recruiting, 3,4 

of black Americans, 135, 136 
in Corps of Engineers, 105 
of industrial labor, 16-17 
for QMC, 118 
Red Ball Express, 85 
Redeployment. See also Deployment, 
to Pacific, 13, 21,48 
point system in, 23 
training for, 24 
Regimental combat team, 65 
Regimental operations 

in attack, with artillery and air support, 47, 63 
in ETO, 78, 139 
in Lorraine campaign, 77 
on Okinawa, 57 
in Philippines recovery, 52-53 
Regular troops, cooperation with guerrillas, 74 
Rehearsals for Normandy landing, 85 
Reinforcements 

application to tactical reorganizations, 22 
Japanese, on Leyte, 54 
of Pacific theater, 10-11 
of Philippines, 4 
Remagen bridge seizure, 71,83 
Remington, Jesse A., 105 
Renegotiation of contracts, 15 
Reorganization. See also Organization. 
ofAGFin 1942,21-23 
for redeployment, 22 

of War Department in 1942,5, 6, 21,30, 1 18, 
123 

wartime, of Army, 21 -23 
Replacement and School Command, 24 
Replacement training centers, 24—25 
Replacements 

estimating needs, 85 

procurement and training, 24-25,76, 105 

system, breakdown of, 24 

training adjusted to theater requirements, 25 





INDEX 


167 


Requirements 

computing and forecasting, 15, 115-16, 118 
coordination with planning, 7 
feasibility of wartime production, 15 
for rearming Allies, 138 
for service troops, 11 
Research and development 
atomic weapons, 141 —43 
in chemical warfare, 101-03 
civilian-military relations in, 102 
factors affecting, 118 
German methods, 114 
in Ordnance Department, 113-14 
inQMC, 117-18 
in Signal Corps, 122-23 
in transportation, 127 

Resistance, relation of logistical planning to, 46 
Resources 

competition for, 10, 12 
conversion to war use, 8-9 
matched with strategic concepts, 43 
scarce, planning against, 7,43—44 
Retrograde movements 

of large force under pressure, 46 
in Philippines, 45 

Reverses, logistical response to, 86 
Rhine River, 71,77,78,79, 80, 82,83-84, 86 
Rhineland Campaign, 71 
Rhone Valley, pursuit up, 70-71,81-82 
Risch, Ema, 117 
River crossings, 109 
at Amaville, 139-40 
assault. 109 
in Italy, 64, 66 
Moselle River, 77, 139 
multiple crossings, 76, 77 
Rapido River, in flood, 64 
Rhine River, 71,77, 82,83-84,86 
tactics of, 53, 84 

use of smoke generators, 78, 79, 84, 104 
River line 

assault on wide front, 77 
defense of, 53 
engineer operations at, 78 
smoke operations at, 78 
Riviera to the Rhine drive, 70-71 
Road construction and repair, 107, 109 
Roadblocks, 80 
Roer River, drive to, 70, 79 
Romanus, Charles F., 93,94,95, 120 
Rome, capture of, 65 
Rome-Berlin Axis, dissolution of, 63 
Roosevelt, Franklin D. 
as Commander in Chief, 9 
decision on Army role in civil affairs, 134 
decision on China-based air power, 94 
decision on Northwest Africa, 7 
defense doctrine enunciated, 35 
prewar policies, 3,4, 132, 133 


Roosevelt, Franklin D.—Continued 
role in logistics, 10, 12 
role in rearming French, 138 
role in strategic planning, 8 
unconditional surrender formula, 8, 9 
Rosenthal, Herbert H.. 104 
Ross, William F., 120 
ROUNDUP. See Normandy Campaign. 

Royal Australian Air Force, 53 
Ruhr industrial area, 79, 83 
Ruppenthal, Roland G., 84, 85 
Russell Islands, secured, 46 
Russia. See Soviet Army; Soviet Union. 

Ryukyu Islands seizure, 56-58 

St. Malo, assault on, 76 
St. Vith, 80 

Saipan, seizure of, 51-52 

Salerno, landings at, 64 

Salvage and reclamation, 118, 119, 120, 121 

Salween River, 95 

Saveme Gap, 81 

Schmidt, battle of, 139-40 

Schnee Eiffel. 79-81 

Science, Signal Corps contributions to, 122-24 
Scientific data, exchange with Allies, 114 
Scientific Research and Development, Office of 
(OSRD), 142 

Sea, command of, effect on enemy, 46 
Searchlights, use of, 79 
Security measures 
in atomic project, 143 
inadequate, effect of, 140 
in transport facilities, 126 
in tribal areas, 90 
in war plants, 16 

Segregation, racial, 65, 105, 108, 135-36 
Seine River, drive to, 76 

Selective Service Act of 1940, nondiscrimination 
clause, 135 

Selective Service System, 16, 17, 136 
Service schools 

organization, training, testing in, 24, 25 
in Signal Corps, 123 
Service troops, requirements for, 11 
Services of Supply (SOS). See also Army Service 
Forces (ASF), 
in CBI, 93-94 
in China, 95 

local procurement by, 95 
and Quartermaster Corps, 121 
role in logistics, 10 

SEXTANT (Cairo) Conference, 6, 8,94 
Shipbuilding, 125 

Shipments, from depot to troops, 115 
Shipping 
assault, 13 

civilian-military relations in, 10, 11 
conflict between global and local interests, 90 




168 


READER'S GUIDE 


Shipping—Continued 
control of, 125 

difficulties in providing, 6, 126-27 
effect on logistics in various areas, 11 
inter-Allied control, 126 
problems in ETO, 84-85 
shortages in, 10, 13, 14, 64, 117, I 19, 125 
and strategic-logistical planning, 13, 14 
troopship administration, 126 
Shops, maintenance management in, 116 
Shortages 

aircraft, 132-33 
ammunition, 84 
artillery, 48 

base and storage facilities, 127 

control and allocation, 86 

defense of fortified areas, effect on, 46 

distribution of scarce articles, 11, 133 

equipment, 139, 140 

food, 121 

gasoline, 84 

landing craft, 74 

materiel, 123 

medical supplies, 110 

military aid, 11 

raw materials, 114 

shipping, 10, 13, 14,64, 117, 119, 125 
training, effect on, 25 
transport facilities, 126, 127 
Shuri, drive on, 57 

Sicily Campaign, 13,62-64, 108, 109, 1 10, 116, 120 

Siege conditions, 46, 109 

Siegfried Line campaign, 70,77,78-79 

Signal Corps, 121-24 

Signal equipment. See Communications. 

SLEDGEHAMMER. See Normandy Campaign. 

Small businesses 

contract problems, 15-16 
contributions and subcontracting, 123 
Small-unit operations, 139—40 
in Europe, 78-81 
in Italy, 64—65 
on Leyte, 54 

in Lorraine campaign, 77 
in Normandy, 74 
on Okinawa, 56-57 
ordnance, 116-17 
in Philippines recovery, 53 
in Sicily, 63 

Smith, Clarence McKittrick, 109 
Smith. R. Elberton, 14 
Smith, Robert Ross, 52,55, 81 
Smoke generators, development, 102 
Smoke operations 

to conceal activities, 81,84, 104, 139 
development, 102, 103 
at river lines, 78, 79, 84, 104 
Smyth, Howard McGaw, 62 
Snell, Edwin M., 6 


Soldiers, use in war industry, 16, 17 
Somervell, Lt. Gen. Brehon B., 12, 29, 30, 86 
Somervell-Lutes inspection tour, 86 
South Pacific Area (SOPAC) 
amphibious operations in, 46 
case study in logistical plans, 1 1.44 
medical services in, 112-13 
in Rabaul reduction, 49 
Southeast Asia Command (SEAC), 94, 106 
Southern France Campaign, 73-74,81-82,83 
debate on landing, 74 
decision for, 9 
medical services in, 110 
planning for, 6-7 
Southwest Pacific Area (SWPA) 

amphibious operations in, 46,52-53, 107 
medical services in, 112-13 
naval operations by, 53 
ordnance support, 116-17 
in Rabaul reduction, 44,49 
Soviet Army, 71 
Soviet Union 

coalition, weight in, 8 
cooperation with, 83, 90 
expectations from Allies, 8, 9 
lend-lease to, 11,13, 14,89-90 
relations with United States, 72 
role in strategic planning, 8 
supply routes to, 11 
Spain, 9 
Spare parts 

maintenance and supply, 104. 105, 120, 124, 127 
Ordnance Department problem, 115 
Signal Corps supply, 124 
SPARS, 141 

Specialists, training, 126 
Specialization, 22,23 

Staffs and staff procedures, 5, 6. See also Command; 

Headquarters. 

integrated, for coalition warfare, 62 
logistical coordination, inadequate, $5 
overexpansion of, 90 
Staging operations, transportation in, 126 
Stalin, Joseph V„ 8 
Standardization of equipment, 105 
Stauffer, Alvin P., 119 
Stevens, John, 56 

Stilwell, Lt. Gen. Joseph W., 12,93-95 
Stock control systems, 116, 123 
development of, 118 
in QMC, 1 18 
Stocks, dispersion of, 119 
Storage facilities 
CWS problems, 102 
expansion of, 123 

Ordnance Department methods, 115 
in QMC, 118 
shortages in, 127 
wartime expansion, 118 


INDEX 


169 


Strategic materials, control of, 106 
Strategic planning 

Allies, differences with, 7,62-64,74, 83 
for amphibious operations, 51,54 
Axis difficulties with, 63 
British, coordination with, 4, 83 
Burma, Allied debates over, 94 
in CBI, 94-95 

for coalition warfare, 6-9,62-63 
and foreign relations, 4, 6, 7, 9 
German, 73 

global planning, competition with, 85 

for global war, 7, 10,43 

for invasion of Sicily, 62-64 

for Italian campaign, 64—66 

Japanese, 43,44,47,48, 50, 51,52, 53, 55 

logistical plans, role of, 10-14,43 

for Marianas, 51-52 

mobilization, effect on, 22 

Navy, differences and coordination with, 7,9,43- 
44 

for Normandy, 7,71,73-75 
for Northwest Africa, 6,7,61-62 
for Okinawa, 56-58 
ordnance support for, 116, 117 
for Pacific theater, 43^44 
for Philippines recovery, 43^44,52-53 
role of intelligence in, 55-56 
theater problems versus grand strategy, 47 
transportation as factor in, 125 
United States and Canada, 136-37 
unpreparedness, effect on, 46 
War Department General Staff, role in, 4 
for Western Hemisphere, 3,4,35-38, 137 
Strategic Services, Office of, 82 
Strategy 

Army’s concepts, 6-7,9 
construction, relation to, 108 
global logistics and, 10-14 
Japanese, in Philippines defense, 55 
logistics, relation to, 10, 30 
manpower, influence on, 9 
Northwest Africa, enemy, 61 -62 
in Pacific theater, 41-58 
requirements, relation to, 11 
tactics, relation to, 58 
“Streamlining,” 22 
Street fighting, 78, 79, 139 
Stuttgart incident, 138 
Subcontracting. See Small businesses. 

Submarine operations, U.S., in Pacific, 54 
Subversion, U.S. protection against, 37, 38 
Suicide air attacks. See Kamikaze attacks. 

Sultan, Lt. Gen. Daniel I., 95 
Sunderland, Riley, 93, 94,95 
Supply bases 
in India, 11, 107 
operation on islands, 107, 120 
Supply Control System, 103 


Supply operations. See also Air supply. 

Allies, pooling and allocating among, 11, 105 
in amphibious operations, 57, 107 
Anglo-American pool, 11 
Axis problems with, 64, 81 
chemical warfare materiel, 102, 104 
in combat, 64—66, 107, 120, 140 
common-versus-separate system, 30 
communications equipment, protection of, 124 
CWS distribution problems, 102 
deployment of supplies, 6-7 
disposition, relation to capacity for resistance, 46 
effect on logistics in various areas, 11,81, 109 
engineer role in, 106-09 

local procurement overseas, 85, 86, 95, 119, 120 
medical, 110, 111, 112, 113 
munitions allocation and distribution, 11 
Ordnance Department methods, 114—17 
over-the-beach methods, 51, 52, 84, 85, 128 
packaging and packing, 118, 124 
in Philippines recovery, 53 
POL distribution, 104, 107, 109 
procedures for, 12 
by QMC, 117-21 

requirements, determining, 11, 15 
spare parts stocks, 104, 105, 116, 124 
special articles for Allies, 138 
Supply Control System, 103, 118, 123 
transportation, role in, 64, 81, 124-25 
in Transportation Corps, 124—28 
Victory Program, 4,7 
volumes of, 83 
waterproofing, 124 
in zone of interior, 30 
Supply routes, 10-11,107-08 
Supply theater, role of ASF in organizing, 90 
Supporting arms, at Guadalcanal, 47 
Supreme Commander, Allied Expeditionary Forces. 

See Eisenhower, General of the Army Dwight D. 
Supreme Headquarters, Allied Expeditionary Forces 
(SHAEF), 70,71-73 
Surpluses 

allocation to Allies, 138 
disposal of, 119 
Surprise 

in Ardennes, 73 
effect on enemy, 46 
on grand scale, 72 
at Pearl Harbor, 4, 6 
in Philippines, 46 
Surrender 

of Bataan and Corregidor, 45 

ethics of, 45^16 

in Italy, 65-66 

Japan, in China, 95 

Japanese, 56 

in Northwest Africa, 61 

of Philippines by United States, 

44-45 








170 


READER'S GUIDE 


Tactical planning 

for amphibious operation, 50-52 
effect of intelligence on, 55-56 
for joint task forces, 62 
logistical aspects, 84—86 
for Marianas, 51-52 
ordnance role in, 116-17 
Tactics. See also Assault tactics, 
armor in limited attacks, 78 
in breakthrough, 76 
broad-front maneuver, 62 
counterattack, German methods, 140 
counterattack, Japanese methods, 51,52, 58 
in defense, 76 

in difficult terrain, 65-66,78, 80, 81 

double envelopment, 81 

effect of enemy command of air and sea on, 46 

enemy, in Europe, 80 

enemy, in Northwest Africa, 61 -62 

enveloping, difficulty on islands, 51 

on fortified islands, 51,52 

in mobile warfare, 64,65-66,76 

new weapons, relation to, 114 

obsolete, use in Philippines, 45 

perimeter defense, 80 

piecemeal reinforcement, 80 

of river crossings, 53, 84 

small-unit, 53,54,56-57,66,74, 77,78,79,80, 81 
139 

strategy, relation to, 43^14,58,64 
terrain, effect on, 79, 80, 81,84 
weather, effect on, 58, 78, 79, 80, 81,84 
Tank, controversy over, 114 
Tank destroyers 

in close support, 65, 140 
integration into ground forces, 22 
as specialized arm, 22 
Tanks. See Armor; Armor operations. 

Task forces 

armor, in limited attacks, 78 
joint, tactical planning, 62 
principle, extension of, 23, 81 
in special operations, 76 
“Tax amortization” provisions, 15, 133 
Teamwork, Rabaul as example, 49 
Technical services 

ASF, coordination by, 29, 30 
ASF, relation to, 125 
histories of, 99-128 

Technology, intelligence in developments, 114 
Tehran Conference, 8 
Telegraph, extension in West, 124 
Terrain 

difficult, armor operations in, 57 
difficult, tactics in, 64—66,78,80,81-82, 109 
Terrett, Dulany, 121 
Theaters of Operations 

Central Pacific, 42,44-46,50-53,104,119 
China-Burma-India, 11,93-95, 106, 127 


Theaters of Operations—Continued 

European, 6,7,9,63-86,108-09,111-12,116-17, 
126-27. 139-40, 141, 147 
Mediterranean, 6,7,9,1 1,61-66,85,89-90, 108— 
09, 110-11,116-17,127, 141, 147 
Middle East, 11,89-90,127 
North African, 6, 7, I 1,85 
North Pacific, 127 

Pacific Ocean Areas, 6, 7, 9, 10. 1 1,41-58, 104, 
106-08,119, 127, 147 
South Pacific, 11,42,46,48-50, I 19 
Southwest Pacific, 42,44-50,52-58,116-17,119, 
141 

Western Hemisphere, 35-38,136-37 
Thompson, George Raynor, 121 
Thomson, Harry C., 114 
Three Powers Declaration, 90 
Tinian, seizure of, 51-52 
Tizard Mission, 123 

TORCH. See Northwest Africa, campaign in. 

Toulon, seizure of, 81 
Traffic, effect on operations, 76 
Training, 22,23-25,38 

for amphibious operations, 51,52 

chemical warfare, defense against, 101, 102 

of Chinese Army, 95 

for civil affairs administration, 134 

for civilian defense, 101 

by CWS, 101, 102 

drivers, 127 

engineer troops, 104-05 
films in, 123 

inadequate, effect in battle, 48 
of medical troops. 111, 112 
for Normandy, 85 
in Ordnance Department, 114 
in photography, 123 
program and problems, 4 
inQMC, 118, 119, 121 

racial segregation, problems posed by, 135, 136 
of replacements, 24, 105 
in service schools, 24 
in Signal Corps, 122, 123 
of specialists, 126 
in Transportation Corps, 126-27 
troops and officers, 4, 105 
use of soldiers in, 38 
Training centers in CBI, 95 
Transportation, 124—28 

German efforts to keep roads and railroads 
functional, 81 
global aspects, 10 
ground troops by air, 48 
long-distance requirements, 84—85,86 
of patients in zone of interior, 109-10 
in supply operations, 81, 117, 124 
Transportation Corps (TC), 124—28 
Treadwell, Mattie E., 140 
Trench foot, 121 


INDEX 


171 


TRIDENT (Washington) Conference. 6,63 
Troop movements, 126-28 
Troop strength. Army, 1939—41,37 
Troop trains, 126 
Troop units 

binational forces, 136-37 
black.65, 105, 108.135-36 
construction for, 106 
in Corps of Engineers, 104—09 
enlisted strength, 23 
general purpose versus specialized, 23 
medical, for overseas, 109, 110, 111 
medical services to, 111, 112, 113 
QMC, development in, 119 
segregation, racial, 105,135-36 
service, 11, 135, 136 
shipment of materiel to, 115 
strength and deployment, global, 22 
training, 24 
transportation of, 126 
Troops. See Personnel. 

Troopships, administration, 126 
Tropical warfare. See also Jungle operations, 
engineer role in, 106-08 
evaluation of equipment in, 120 
logistical problems, 53, 55 
medical services in, 110-11,112-13 
ordnance support, 116, 117 
readying supplies for, 124 
Truck transportation in ETO, 84—85 
Trucks, 125, 128 
Tunis, drive on, 62 

Tunisia Campaign. See Northwest Africa, campaign 
in. 

Tunnel combat, 53, 57 
Turkey, 9 

Tuskegee University, 135 
“Type” units abandoned, 23 

ULTRA, 82 

Unconditional surrender formula, 8, 9. 73 
Undersecretary of War, 14—15 
Underwater demolition teams, 51 
Underwater obstacles, 75 
United Kingdom 

Anglo-American supply pool, 11, 12, 13 
cooperation on development of atomic bomb, 

143 

coordination with U.S. plans and policies, 4 
engineer activity in, 108-09 
hospitals in, 111 
logistical problems in, 11 
role in civil administration of liberated or 
conquered areas, 134 
and Soviet expectations, 8, 9 
strategic planning, role in, 8 
U.S. assistance to, 37 
U.S. commands in, 84, 85 
women’s services, 141 


United States, 35-38 

British plans and policies, coordination with, 4,62- 
64 

Canada, relations with, 136-37 
coalition, weight in, 8-9 

continental, organization for defense, 23, 37, 38 
France, relations with, 137-38 
materiel, superiority of, 14 
in military negotiation and diplomacy, 8-9 
military power, expansion of, 10-11 
outlook on eve of Casablanca, 8 
and Soviet expectations, 8, 9 
war, imminence of, 3 
war production, leader in, 14 
United States Army 

in amphibious training, 23 

Anglo-American supply pool, 11 

atomic bomb, development of, 141^13 

“balanced force” concept, 4 

black women in, 136 

Canada, operations in, 37 

Canada, organization in, 137 

Chief of Staff, control by, 4—5 

civilian food, control by, 119 

coalition warfare, concepts and influence in, 6-9 

control, organization for, 4 

and economic mobilization, 14—16 

expansion and rearmament, 11 

expeditionary forces, plans for, 37 

forces, deployment of, 6-8,9 

Gilberts-Marshalls, force in, 50 

guerrillas, use of, 56 

and industrial manpower, 16-17 

industry, cooperation with, 118 

integration of plans with Navy-AAF, 7,9, 12-13 

Japanese Americans in, 65 

Japanese estimate of, 47 

Leyte, forces on, 54 

logistics, role in strategic planning, 10-14 

Marianas, forces in, 51-52 

Marine Corps, problems with, 52 

Marine Corps, units under, 53 

Middle East Theater, command relations with. 90 

native forces in, 46 

Navy, coordination with, 4,5,7,9,43^44, 133 

ninety-division limitation, 8, 9 

Okinawa, forces on, 57 

organization charts, 106 

organization and strength, 1939-41,37 

Pacific, deployment to in 1943, 14,48-49 

Philippines defense, forces in, 44-46 

racial policy, 135-36 

racial violence in the, 135, 136 

readiness, state of, 3,4 

role in civil affairs, 134 

strategic planning, concepts and influence in, 6-9, 
43-44 

strength compared to industry’s, 16 
tactical reorganizations, 22, 23 





172 


READER'S GUIDE 


United States Army—Continued 
troop basis, 22 

troops on friendly soil, 90, 137 
United Kingdom, commands in, 85, 86 
units under foreign command, 79 
wartime organization, reshaping, 10-11,21,37,38 
United States Navy 

cooperation with Transportation Corps, 125 
differences and coordination with, 4, 5, 7,9 
integration of plans with Army-AAF, 7, 9 
operations in Pacific, 51, 52 
organization in Canada, 137 
problems of aircraft allocation to, 133 
Units. See Troop units. 

Unlimited war 

decision to wage, 6 
effect on deployment for, 8, 9 
Unpreparedness. See also Combat readiness; 
Rearmament, 
costs of, 4 

of enemy, in Normandy, 74 
of logistics in Philippines, 120 
inQMC, 117 

strategic planning, effect on, 45 
United States, during mobilization, 37 
Urban center, capture of, 55-56 

V-mail, 123 

VARSITY, 71,83 

Vehicles for medical service, 110 

Venereal disease, 111 

Victory Program, 4,7 

Vigneras, Marcel, 137 

Voluntary service in industry, 16 

Vosges, winter warfare in, 70-71,81-82 

Wainwright, Lt. Gen. Jonathan M., 45—J6 
War, economics of. 14-16 
War Department 

and Chemical Warfare Service, 104 
Chief of Staff, role in, 3-4 
Civilian Affairs Division, 134 
and economic mobilization, 14-16 
engineers, relations with, 104 
and industrial manpower, 16-17 
Ordnance Department, relations with, 114 
Pearl Harbor, responsibility for, 4 
plans and preparations, 3-17,44 
in rearmament of France, 137-38 
reorganization, effect on QMC. 118 
reorganization, effect on Signal Corps, 123 
reorganization, supply aspects, 30 
reorganization of 1942, 5, 6, 21,30, 118, 123 
WAC, policy concerning, 141 
War Department General Staff (WDGS) 

Operations Division, 4-6 

planning versus operational activity, 31 

role in logistics, 10 

Secretary of War on Negro Affairs, 135 


War neurosis, 50 

War Plans Division, 1940-42,5. See also Operations 
Division (OPD). 

War Production Board (WPB) 
conflict with ASF, 29-30 
role in aircraft production, 132, 133 
role in logistics, 10 

War Shipping Administration, 10, 12.90 
Wardlow, Chester, 124, 125 
Warehouses, use of shipping for, 127 
Warehousing by QMC. 1 18 
Washington Conferences, 6, 8 
Waterproofing, 124 
Watson, Mark Skinner, 3 
WAVES, 141 

Weapons. See also Equipment; Materiel; Production, 
for aircraft, 114 
antiaircraft, 114 
improvised, use of, 57 
Japanese, 58 

new, relation to tactics, 114 
obsolete, use in Philippines, 45 
planning and developing, 114 
Weather 

effect on air support, 76, 80, 81 
effect on operations, 58,64—66,75 
effect on tactics, 78,80,81-82 
Wedemeyer, Lt. Gen. Albert C., 95 
Wehrmacht, 83 
Weinberg. Albert K., 134 
Weld. Ralph F„ 108 

West Wall. See Siegfried Line campaign. 

Western Hemisphere, 35-38 
defense plans, 3,4, 136-37 
strategic plans for defense, 136-37 
Wiley, Belli., 21,23 
Williams, Mary H„ 131 
Wiltse, Charles M., 110 
Winter Line, 65 

Winter warfare, in Vosges, 70-71, 

81-82 

Wire communications equipment, 124 
Withdrawals 
under attack, 57 
from river line, 53 
Women, black, in Army, 136 
Women Air Service Pilots, 141 
Women Ordnance Workers, 141 
Women in Radio and Electrical Service, 

141 

Women's Army Corps, 141 
World War I 

chemical weapons in, 103 
deployment and mobilization in, 22 
experience applied, 14, 16 
World War II, chronology. 131 

Yasmashita, General, 56 
Ypres, battle of, 99 


INDEX 


173 


Zone of the Interior 

command relations in supplying combat units, 30 
Medical Department in, 109-10 
QMC operations in, 117-19 


supply relations with theaters, 120 
theaters, coordination with, 5-6 
theaters, relations with, 84-86,121 
wartime organization. 30 


USAPPC - 2-04357 - 320-735 - 11/92 
























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